Aftermath
by FawkesTP
Summary: In the wake of a terrorist attack on Beacon University, four friends are left to pick up the pieces on their own. Divided by pain and loss, they all must find ways to overcome their inner demons, or be consumed by them. First part of the Remnant-1610 AU.
1. Chapter 1: The Thrill-Seeker

**A/N:** I've wanted to tackle writing something RWBY-related for a long time, but I've always been hesitant to touch the cannon. I don't know what it is, I just don't like writing when I know my story is going to be so blatantly contradicted by the source material. However, I've recently been reading a lot of AU material, which seems like a much better fit. I can explore the characters and their relationships in a slightly altered version of Remnant without worrying about stepping on existing material.

This story, as well as some of the subsequent stories I write, will be part of what I'm calling the Remnant-1610 AU. The differences will become clear over the course of future chapters, but the most important difference is that the Grim were destroyed long ago by a group of Silver-eyed warriors, and modern day life on Remnant has evolved in a way that reflects this change.

Much of our main character's backgrounds are the same as their canon counterparts, altered slightly to fit the new world. This story begins in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on the school of Beacon University during the Vytal festival, which has left the four girls divided and left to deal with their pain and loss on their own.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Thrill-Seeker**

The air was heavy with the smell of sweat and alcohol. It was sweltering too, the kind of heat you got when you crammed a few hundred people into a place that wasn't designed with that many in mind. Not that the heat had ever really bothered Yang Xiao Long. It gave her some small modicum of comfort in her otherwise hostile environment. The only light in the room came from a set of spotlights clustered in the center of the ceiling. They illuminated the dominating feature of the room: a large steel cage. Inside a burly man with curling ram's horns was fighting an older man who looked like he was made of steel wire and dried leather instead of muscle and flesh. All around her people jeered and laughed, shoving each other, sometimes good naturedly, sometimes not. Tankards overflowing with strong smelling beer sloshed onto the floor and smoke from dozens of cigarettes bathed the room in a surreal haze.

Yang approached the bar, shoving aside the drunken masses around her. It was a solid piece of oak behind which bottles gleamed in the dim light leftover from the spotlights. She made her way through the crowd, leaning against the bar as she reached it. Her shoulders were tense, and her eyes darted around her constantly, red with sullen fire.

She caught the attention of the bartender. He looked like he may have been a little older than her own eighteen years. He was slender, but his arms were corded with muscle. He had silver hair, expertly tousled and his mouth was turned up in a sly smile. He was handsome, Yang couldn't deny that, but his eyes made her feel uneasy. He had a predator's eyes, black as coal and cold, calculating, seemingly stripping Yang to her core where she stood.

"What can I get you?" he asked. He didn't speak loudly, but his voice still managed to cut through the din around her.

"Not drinking," she answered and reached into a pocket of her coat. It was brown leather, falling all the way to the floor behind her. The sleeve of the right arm hung limp at her side, draped over her shoulder rather than worn. She placed five hundred lien on the counter in front of the bartender. It was everything she had left.

"Next fight. I'm taking the over on ninety seconds. The girl wins. Tap out."

"Gambling it is." The bartender reached beneath the counter and retrieved a scroll. He flipped through a few screens and checked some numbers. Something told Yang that it was for show. "Not good odds there," he said, clicking his tongue for emphasis. "She's a rookie it says. And a cripple. You sure you want to waste your money like that?"

"Just do it," she said with a snarl. The bartender held up a hand in surrender and scooped up her money. He made a note on the scroll before placing both beneath the counter. He didn't use a safe like a lot of others in his trade. Yang wondered briefly if anybody had been foolish enough to try and steal from him.

Behind her, she heard a bell sound. The current match was over. Yang turned and pushed her way back into the crowd. She thought she could feel the bartender's eyes boring into the back of her head as she went.

The limp body of the ram faunus was being dragged out of the cage by men in dark suits and red glasses. The men, and indeed this whole club, belonged to a guy who called himself Junior. A sort of baron of the criminal low-life community, Junior had a hand in just about every illegal or shady business in Vale. He also provided a number of services for the right price, namely procuring questionably legal goods, hiring out his thugs and selling information. The latter service was how Yang had met him in the first place. While their first encounter could hardly have been called cordial, Yang had managed to earn his respect, a feat that had allowed her to call on him for some small favors in the past. This favor, however, was a magnitude above her previous ones. She was going to owe him. She bared her teeth in something mimicking a smile.

He could get in line.

As the victor of the former fight faded back into the crowd, the air in the room changed. The cacophony around her faded slightly as roaring cheers turned to half-whispers. She heard scuffling from the bar behind her as men rushed to place their final bets. After a pause long enough for Yang to grow impatient, a man broke free of the crowd. He threw his arms up, roaring a challenge to the whole room. The crowd cheered with him as he strode into the cage. He was tall, though not so much taller than Yang. His dark hair was cut short and he wore jeans, heavy boots and a white sleeveless shirt. His arms were thick and muscular, and as he turned, Yang could see a tattoo on his right bicep. Three claw marks with a wolf's head superimposed over them, all in red.

White Fang.

She whipped her head around and sure enough, staked out in a dark corner of the club were a group of faunus. They were a variety of ages and genders, but they all had one thing in common: each of their eyes were obscured by a mask carved to resemble the monsters of myth and legend, the Grimm. Yang gritted her teeth as old emotions threatened to overwhelm her. There weren't that many of them there, maybe half a dozen. She could fight half a dozen faunus, especially if she took out one or two before the others knew what was going on. She had already taken a few steps forward without realizing it when she bumped against another one of the club's patrons. Her right shoulder collided with his left and he shoved her roughly away. She stared at the limp sleeve. The small reminder was enough. Maybe she could have taken them before. Now…

Besides, she had another fight to win. She turned her back on the White Fang members in the corner and headed into the cage. Her left hand shot out and caught the door as she went past. It slammed shut behind her, drawing the attention of the crowd and her opponent. He turned to face her. Unlike the masks worn by the people in the crowd, his covered his whole face, concealing his features entirely. Yang clenched her fist and slowly moved to the corner on her left, never taking her eyes off her opponent.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" he growled, his voice low and accented with the lilt that marked him as a native of Menagerie.

"Your opponent," Yang said. She'd wanted to say it evenly, but her voice was shaking with rage. She shrugged her coat off her right shoulder and let it slip down her left arm, pooling around her feet where she stood in her corner.

For a moment, nobody said a word. Anybody within view of the cage abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence. For the space of a heartbeat, the club stood still. Her opponent broke the silence first, roaring with laughter. It was shortly taken up by the crowd around them. Beneath her coat, Yang wore a simple orange tank top and a pair of dark brown fatigues with a purple sash tied around her left knee. What drew the ire of the crowd was her right arm. It ended in a metal cap where her elbow should have been. The steel cap was gilded, and in a few places the gold had began to fleck off, replaced by dents and scarred markings, a detail that went unnoticed by the room at large.

"I must have done something to make Junior happy!" the large man said addressing the crowd, fueling his audience's mirth. "Easy money tonight." He pointed to somebody directly in the crowd and Yang followed his gaze. It wasn't hard to see who her opponent was looking at. He stood about a head taller than anybody around him. He was the only person in the club with any personal space, too and he was flanked on either side by more of those men with dark suits and glasses. The man in question had close cropped hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a crisp white shirt shirt and a custom tailored black vest. The only color he allowed himself was the red of his tie.

"Junior!" her opponent roared, "when this is over, next round's on me!" There was considerably more cheering from the crowd at that. Junior glanced between the man and Yang. To her relief, he showed her no sign of recognition. He just nodded his head.

Yang said nothing during the showboating. When she felt like she'd wasted enough time, she strode forward to the center of the cage and dropped into a low stance, arms up, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. Her opponent glanced at her and shook his head.

"You really serious?" he asked, amusement coloring his voice. He began to circled her. He headed right, Yang noticed, towards her bad arm. "Look Blondie, we all make mistakes. Go ahead and save us all some time and go home."

"Start the clock," Yang said to one of the men in suits, her eyes never leaving her opponent. He gave a low chuckle.

"Your funeral," he said, squaring up against her.

The bell rang.

The man charged, roaring as he did. Predictably, he was charging her from the right. She planted her feet, ducking under a wild haymaker and planted her shoulder against his sternum. The steel cap on her arm jammed into his solar plexus and she felt the wind go out of him. She rolled to the left, letting his momentum carry him over her shoulder and she flipped him with what was left of her right arm. He hit the ground hard as Yang righted herself, dropping right back into her fighting stance.

The crowd seemed to take a collective breath before the shouting started. Men hurled themselves against the cage, some in anger, some in adrenaline-fueled hysteria. Junior's men had to fight to keep the crowd back, a few of them resorting to unsheathing their blood red machetes. Her gaze flicked over the heads of the crowd, landing on the bartender. He was looking at her with what Yang thought might have been hunger in his eyes.

 _Focus_ she told herself, snapping her attention back to her opponent. He was rolling to his feet, catching his breath as he stood up. He adopted a more traditional fighting stance, bringing his arms up to guard. He still circled to her right, but his movements were more patient, more weary.

"Lucky shot," he growled at her, barely audible over the crowd. "Let's see how good you really are."

He lunged at her again. Not the wild, uncontrolled charge from earlier, but practiced and precise. He jabbed at her right and Yang was forced to dodge left. He aimed a kick at her head, anticipating the move, but she caught it against her left arm. She locked her arm around his leg and pulled him back, trying to get him off balance, but he leapt off the ground, twisting in the air, his other foot lashing out at her.

Yang was forced to let him go and roll backwards, dodging the blow. He caught himself on his hands, landing in a plank before hurling himself back to his feet. The crowd cheered for him and he graced them with a wave before turning his attention back to Yang. His lapse in concentration cost him as the steel cap on Yang's right arm came up to smash into his jaw. He managed to roll with the hit, and when Yang tried to follow up with a left hook, the awkward spacing made it easy for him to intercept the attack. Just like that, he was on the offense again, forcing Yang to give up ground. He heavily favored her right side, meaning she had to keep retreating, leaving her unable to launch an effective counterattack.

To make matters worse, her opponent was smarter than Yang would have liked. He was learning as he went, figuring out where she liked to dodge, how she had planned on compensating for her handicap. He started punishing anything predictable. A feint right led to Yang forced to twist and catch a powerful kick on her shoulder. A lunge went low, slipping under her guard and winding her for a precious second in which she barely managed to duck under a vicious hook.

He wasn't invincible though, and the more confident he grew, the more mistakes he made. One such mistake left his chest open for Yang to deliver a solid heel kick to his ribs, earning her enough breathing room to look at the clock. Forty two seconds. She needed more time.

When the next attack came, she let him chase her towards the corner opposite the door. She kept herself light on her feet, taking advantage of her superior speed to give her aching arms and shoulders a rest. She felt her back foot brush against the bars of the cage and she watched as her opponent reared back for what he clearly thought would be a decisive end to the match. As he lunged at her, however, she spun away in a quick dodge, putting as much space between them as she dared. He smashed into the cage, disoriented for a moment. A moment was all she needed. Yang grabbed the highest bar she could and began to climb, awkwardly, one-handed, until she felt she was out of his reach. She looked down and saw him coming towards her, cautiously, trying to figure out her end game. As he reached up as if to climb after her, she turned and leapt, reaching for the highest bars of the cage, hoping to buy a few seconds as she dangled out of his reach.

Unfortunately, she'd hesitated just a moment too long. His arm lashed out and she felt his hand close around her ankle. He dragged Yang out of the air and slamming her hard into the stone floor. The impact knocked the breath out of her, but she managed to get her left arm up to cover her face. She lashed out with her free leg, hoping she was in the vicinity of something delicate. She didn't connect with anything, but she felt him let her go and she took the opportunity to roll onto her back and sprang to her feet. As she came level, she had a fraction of a second to register his fist in the corner of her eye. Reflexively, she threw up her arm to catch the blow-

-and it sailed right over where her forearm should have been, connecting with the side of her head. The world lurched sideways and Yang tasted blood as she hit the floor again. She blinked a few times, trying to focus. She saw faces all around her, jeering, shouting, yelling for blood. She blinked a few more times and let her eyes flick up to the clock. One minute, six seconds.

Her opponent was saying something. He was circling her again. When she didn't answer, he aimed a kick for her ribs. She rolled to avoid it, taking it against her back instead.

"Looks like you've got some life in you after all," he said. "I'll say it one more time: tap out, now. You're out of your league here Blondie."

Yang clenched her fist and planted the metal cap of her right arm against the ground, shoving herself up. Her head was ringing and her heart was hammering with anger. Anger at him, anger at herself, her own stupid weakness. Anger at those like him, at all the pain they'd caused. She felt like she was at the center of an all consuming firestorm, only dimly aware that she wasn't thinking clearly. That she was forgetting something. But the sound of his mocking voice swept all restraint away on a wave of molten hatred. She spit blood from between her teeth at his feet.

"Well, you can't fault me for being chivalrous," he said striding towards her with cold purpose.

He approached her from the right, predictably. As he did, she moved with him, pivoting to reposition herself. The stood sidelong to each other, mirrored, her right shoulder to his left, almost as if they were about to start dancing. Before he could figure out how to adjust his stance, she attacked.

She pushed off her left leg, letting her right come up to wrap around his waist. With a grunt, she twisted in midair, letting her body weight catch him in his center of gravity. She swept her back leg up, planting it against the back of his knees. He had nowhere to go but down. His head hit the stone floor first. Stunned and disoriented, he tried to push himself up into a sitting position. A task promptly abandoned as Yang's steel arm came crashing down into his mask.

There was a sickening crunch and blood started flowing heavily between newly-formed cracks in the Grimm mask. She felt him go limp and she rolled away from him, wincing as she realized most of his weight had come down on her left leg. She opted to stay on her back as Junior's men unlocked the cage and came to help the unconscious faunus out of the ring. She closed her eyes and let the roaring inferno recede. It never truly left her. She had been burning ever since Beacon University was attacked. But mostly it just left her feeling hollowed out and numb. Like every nerve in her body had been scorched until only glowing coals and embers remained.

When Yang finally decided to open her eyes, Junior was standing above her. She took his hand grudgingly and let him pull her to her feet. The room was spinning a little. Her head ached and she was pretty sure she'd be walking with a limp for a day or two, but at least it was over.

"Not bad Blondie. Wasn't sure you had it in you." Yang dimly realized that the larger man was steering her out of the cage. One of his men handed her the coat she'd left in a corner and she slipped it on.

"You trying to get rid of me or something?" she asked as they made their way through the crowd. "A girl might take offense to that you know." It was a reflex to her, taking jabs at people, trying to get them riled up. But heart, if she still had one left, wasn't in it anymore. Even to her own ears the words just sounded empty.

Fortunately, Junior didn't seem to be paying attention. Yang suddenly noticed that the path through the crowd was being cleared for them by two of Junior's men. "I'm doing you a favor. Another one, I might add."

"Put it on my tab." She saw they were approaching the steps that would take them to the door at street level. She remembered something then, and glanced at the clock. One minute, thirty two seconds. She'd won. A fierce triumph surged through her, but only briefly. The memory of the rest of the bet came back to her. She'd thought that lasting a minute and a half would be the hardest part, but she'd gotten carried away. She'd gotten angry. _The girl wins. Tap out._

The spark was gone as quickly as it had come, and before she realized it, she was out in the alleyway again, the heat and sounds of the fight club disappearing behind the reinforced steel door. Junior's men were heading down the alleyway, glancing down the street before shooting Junior a thumbs up. He nodded.

"You need to go. Those White Fang guys aren't going to be happy they were hustled like that. Once they get their buddy back on his feet, they'll be looking for you." Yang studied his face pensively. It was interesting how much loyalty a man like Junior could demonstrate. Sure, he might have been a scumbag, but he looked out for the ones he considered his own. Unlike-

Yang nodded stiffly, wincing as a wave of fresh agony ripped through her chest. She turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Junior held out a stack of lien. Her winnings. "Payouts only supposed to be five hundred, but I made a lot on you tonight. Drop me a line if you're in the mood for round two. Just...give it a week or so for things to cool off first. White Fang never stay anywhere for too long, not when there's plenty of people who'd like to seem them locked up or worse."

Yang nodded, pocketing the money. She didn't bother to count it. If Junior said it was there, it was there. She left without another word, making her way past the men in suits and out into the cool summer night.

At least, it felt cool to Yang after being in the fight club for so long. Summer time in Vale was usually known for its warm nights, so it was possible she was just imagining the pleasantness of the air. She reached back and yanked out the ponytail that held her mane of blonde hair in place with one hand. She had never liked cutting it, and over the summer she had allowed it to practically gain a life of its own. It cascaded down past her waist and settled somewhere near mid-thigh.

Only when she was a block away from the clock did she check her winnings. Junior had been generous, he'd doubled what the usual payout was. But while it was better than just breaking even for the night, it wasn't anywhere close to what Yang had wanted or needed. Not for what she had in mind. The bet she'd placed would have payed out at twenty-to-one-odds. Ten thousand lien. That was the kind of money you could launch an international manhunt with. One thousand would keep her fed and with a roof over her head for another couple of months. It was better than nothing, but it was by no means a victory.

"Hey there!"

Yang started and whirled around, shoving the money deep into one of her coat pockets. A girl had snuck up behind her. She stood with her hands behind her back, smiling warmly at the angry blonde in front of her. Her outfit was odd, clearly designed with a certain audience in mind. She had a glorified strip of cloth across her ample chest and wore a ridiculously small jacket with a high collar over it. Her shorts left about a mile of chocolate colored legs bare that Yang had no trouble following down to where they ended in a pair of dangerously high heels the exact same shade of deep green as her hair. When she glanced back up, she was looking into a pair of red eyes not terribly unlike her own. Despite herself, Yang felt her heart beating a little faster.

"I saw your fight," she said after a brief pause. "You were pretty good. You know, despite." She gestured to her own arm.

Yang's temper flared again, but she shoved it down for the moment. "Thanks," she muttered, turning to leave. After about half a block she realized she could still hear the girl's footsteps behind her. "Can I help you?" she asked without breaking her stride.

The girl laughed. Yang thought under different circumstances, it might have been a pleasant sound. "My partner sent me," she said, moving up to walk beside the taller girl. "He works the bar at the fight club back there. Says you forgot your money."

That stopped Yang. She turned to face this stranger and narrowed her eyes. "If this is some kind of con, you're not very good at it," she said. "I lost that bet."

The girl shrugged. "My partner said he broke yours up, just in case. Made it into three separate bets. Two hundred that you'd win, two hundred you'd last longer than ninety seconds, and one hundred that said the other guy would tap out." She hend out a stack of lien. "Individually, each one was going at five-to-one odds," she explained. Yang was dumbfounded. How dare this "partner" of hers decide what to do with _her_ money? She decided to place the bet, _she_ made the mistake. She felt a phantom pain shoot up her missing right arm as she tried in vain to clench her fist.

She snatched the money from the dark skinned girl's hand and turned to leave, but before she'd gotten very far, she was in front of her again. She moved surprisingly fast in those heels.

"I'm Emerald," the girl added, holding out her hand. "Emerald Sustrai."

Yang considered her for a moment through narrowed eyes. She could feel her already fragile patience with this little game wearing thin. "What do you want Emerald?" she asked, the question coming out as a challenge.

Emerald seemed to sense that she was on thin ice. Her smile faltered for a moment before she nodded and dropped it all together. It annoyed Yang that her serious face was just as pretty as her flattery face.

"Me and my partner think you have a lot of potential."

"The bartender."

"His name is Mercury." When Yang didn't say anything, she plowed forward. "Tonight was a good start, but with your skills and… profile, we think that we can make what you won tonight look like pocket change."

Yang paused for a moment. It was certainly a tempting offer. She just needed to find the catch. "What's in it for you?"

Emerald shrugged. "A share of the profits, naturally. But don't think that means we won't be doing any work. Me and Merc have been working scenes like this for a long time." Emerald's smile was back again, but this time it had an edge to it, something predatory. Yang privately thought it was an improvement. "Any place lowlives gather to gambol and drink, there's a profit to be made."

Yang studied her would-be partner in crime. Something about Emerald's demeanor had shifted. Whereas before she'd given off an air of pleasant naivety, now Yang noticed more of an edge to her. She had shifted her stance ever so slightly, one foot drifting in front of the other. Her arms were still behind her back, but they were more relaxed, ready to do… something. Yang got the feeling this girl, Emerald, was used to playing a soft smile and angel face to get what she wanted. But it was clear, to Yang at least, that this was a mask for a much more dangerous creature hiding within. A spark flared in Yang's chest as she contemplated trying to find out just how dangerous she really was.

"Junior runs the biggest fight club in Vale," Yang said, taking a step towards Emerald. Even in her heels, the blonde girl had an inch or two over her in height. "Plus, I don't know if you noticed, but I kind of lost my element of surprise tonight. Odds aren't going to be nearly as good for me going forward. Whatever you and this Mercury asshole are planning, you might as well leave me out of it." She went to push past Emerald, but the girl would not be so easily dissuaded. She stood her ground, shoving Yang up against the wall of the shop beside her to stop her. Yang reacted quickly, grabbing Emerald by the jacket with her good arm. She swung her left against the wall and pivoted, reversing their positions easily.

Emerald threw up her hands in surrender, but Yang noticed a gleam of amusement in her eyes and that damn smile just got wider. "We're not planning on pulling off this little operation in Vale," she explained, her voice surprisingly calm. Not many people got Yang this agitated and managed to keep a level expression on their faces. "Tomorrow me and Mercury are grabbing the first boat to Vacuo.

"But hey," she continued, apparently undeterred by her very vulnerable position, "if you want to keep playing it safe in Junior's backyard, be my guest. It'd just be a shame to see all that," her eyes drifted meaningfully downward, "talent go to waste."

Flustered, Yang pushed off Emerald and paced away from her, running her hand through her snarl of hair. She tried to take a deep breath, to calm the maelstrom in her mind and think. Vacuo was a nation known for its anarchic tendencies. The government there had a much looser control over the population, which would indeed make setting up an illegal fighting tournament easier. Yang wondered briefly if she was going crazy considering this. Vale was the only place Yang had ever truly called home.

But was it still her home? Her father was the only family she had here anymore, and as much as he might have tried, he couldn't help her. Aside from that, there was Beacon, her school. Beacon had been her home. Her friends had been her family. She felt a twisting pain in her stomach as she thought of her sister, Ruby, and her friends, Weiss and-

She clenched her eyes shut, focusing on their burning heat instead of the life she'd turned away from. There was nothing left for her here anymore.

"Okay. I'll do it."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and Yang whipped her head around to see the those red eyes inches from her own. "I'll let Merc know," she said, her voice low. Emerald's eyes traced the features of Yang's face, lingering a moment too long on her lips. She had the pleased look of a python coiled around its next meal. "Meet us at the docks tomorrow morning before sunrise. Don't leave anything behind."

And just like that, she was gone, slinking away into the night, probably back towards the club. Yang watched her leave until she ducked into the alleyway. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. An alien sensation was writhing in the pit of her stomach. Or maybe Yang was just too far gone to recognize any emotion that wasn't anger or some variation thereof. It had been so long since she let herself feel...anything. It hurt too much. Even now the memory of Emerald's smile was leading her mind down a trail she spent every day ignoring. She knew where it ended.

Against her better judgment, she reached into a pocket of her coat and pulled out a wrinkled photograph. In it, three girls were lounging in the grass on Beacon University's campus. Her little sister, covered in that ridiculous red hood and cape had jumped on her back right as the photo was being taken. Ruby Rose's smile was pure, unapologetic joy. She had always been like that, for as long as Yang could remember. Even at the bleakest times, she had always managed a smile, always found something beautiful in the world to cling too. Yang envied her that. She felt as though everything beautiful in her world slipped through her fingers like water. She stared at her own face in the photograph. Her eyes were lilac and wide with surprise from the bundle of energy that had flung herself at her older sister's back. She remembered reaching behind her and dragging Ruby to the ground, laughing and trying to pin her down. To the left of the roughhousing pair was a girl painted in shades of white and more white.

Weiss Schnee was perhaps the unlikeliest part of their group. She was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and as a result fantastically rich and powerful, with the kind of attitude that accompanied both. Still, time and Ruby's persistent joy had helped to thaw the ice queen's heart, and the two of them had become fast friends. In the photo, she was rolling her eyes, but if you looked closely enough you could see a small smile playing across her usually severe mouth.

To the right of the sisters was a small expanse of grass. It ended abruptly, the photo torn and rough at the rightmost edge. Yang had torn it the night after the attack that changed her world. Torn it after learning she'd left, after learning that the most beautiful thing she'd ever held had slipped away from her. It didn't help. It didn't stop her from picturing that warm, amber gaze. It didn't stop her from seeing her sad smiles, or the rarer ones, the ones reserved only for her. It didn't stop her from remembering the way her hair had smelled or the way her hands had felt when-

Yang shoved the photograph back inside her pocket and wiped the hot tears from her eyes before they could fall. She started walking, focusing on the task at hand. Tonight would be the last night she'd have to spend in that shithole hotel. That was a mercy, she wasn't sure if her back could take another night on that god-awful mattress. She'd have to be up early to meet her new companions. She pulled out her scroll to set an alarm for the next morning. As she did, she caught her reflection in the glass of the screen.

Sullen red flame stared back at her.


	2. Chapter 2: The Prodigy

**Chapter 2: The Prodigy**

 _In her nightmares, Beacon was always burning._

 _Ruby Rose was in the bleachers at Amity Colosseum when the first bomb had exploded. It was the final round of the most anticipated and followed event of the festival: the Gold-Tier MMA Tournament. The stands had been packed, the energy in the crowd palpable. She watched as Pyrrha Nikos, favorite for the championship and one of her best friends, ended the match decisively. She was waving at the crowd, a smile on her face._

 _The explosion went off across the colosseum from Ruby. The noise had been incredible, and for a moment, it seemed to her as though the world had ended. Before the dust could settle, panic had set in._

 _The evacuation was frantic. People were screaming, shoving each other over and trampling on others in the rush to escape. Ruby was buffeted and shoved, struggling to keep her feet as she and the rest of the crowd poured out of the colosseum. She had only had a minute to get her bearings before she felt an arm on her shoulder. Pyrrha was beside her, pulling her away from the crowd as best she could. They were on the edge of campus, and everywhere they looked, the night sky was lit by orange flame. Dark smoke blotted out the stars._

 _Pyrrha had snapped Ruby out of her daze. "We have to find the others," she could hear her saying. There was urgency in her voice, but her green eyes had been alert, clear. Ruby was so afraid she could barely think. Where was Jaune? Ren and Nora? Weiss? She couldn't remember if Blake and Yang had come to the match. Were they sitting? where the explosion had gone off? Panic made her chest tight and her head was spinning._

 _Pyrrha had taken her by the hand, drawing her gaze to the older girl's green eyes. "Breathe Ruby, focus. First we find the others. They won't have gone far." Ruby swallowed past a lump in her throat and nodded, allowing herself to be lead back towards the rushing crowd._

 _Other students, lost and confused, gathered around them, drawn to Pyrrha. She was still wearing her battle gear, her golden metal gauntlets and shin guards reflecting the firelight. She looked every inch a soldier, a protector. They had a moderately sized group when they heard the gunfire._

" _There's no more time," Pyrrha had said. "We have to get to the docks, now." Ruby had protested, had tried to stay, but Pyrrha stopped her. "They'll be okay," she'd said. "If we don't leave now, we might not get another chance."_

 _Had she been so calm in life, so resolute and in control, or was it just the dream that made her seem like so much more? Ruby couldn't tell. All she knew was that they were heading for the docks, trying to keep as close as they could to the edge of campus. There were more people now, people in white outfits, their faces hidden by masks. Their uniforms bore the red symbol of the White Fang. Most were armed with bladed weapons, but at least one in every group had a gun. Their shots split the sky and left Ruby's ears ringing._

 _The docks came into view. A few of the airships had left already, but it was clear why there weren't more in the air. A group of White Fang were nearby, seven of them. Five were armed with machetes and two with automatic rifles. Their group tried to hide, but it was no use. The men started towards them, the ones with machetes rushing them first. Pyrrha put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, steady and strong. When she spoke it was with solemn purpose._

" _No matter what happens, get them to the docks."_

 _Ruby protested. Her words were feeble, drowned in fear.  
"There's no time to argue," Pyrrha said. "Get these people out of here!"_

 _She ran to meet their attackers. The one in front swung at her, and she caught the blow on her metal armguard, twisting his and wrenching the blade free. The second man tried to stab her and she dodged aside, hitting him in the back of the head, making sure to keep the group close around her so that the men with guns couldn't get clear shots. In the dream, she seemed to move superhumanly fast, the blades of the men missing her by inches as they fell around her in a lethal whirlwind of metal._

 _Ruby wrenched herself away from the display and lead her group towards the docks. They loaded up one of the shuttles. Before she could get on board herself, Ruby heard the crack of gunfire ring out behind her. She whirled around and saw one of the men grab Pyrrha by the arm. She was having a hard time standing. Without thinking, Ruby took off back towards the fighting. She didn't know what she could do to help, only that she had to try._

 _Pyrrha was surrounded. Three of the men were unconscious, but another two held her in place, while a third trained his gun on her. She was bleeding from her stomach. As she grew nearer, she looked past the men, straight at Ruby. All the younger girl could think of was how, in the firelight, the red of her hair matched the red of her blood running down and soaking into the grass._

 _"Run," Pyrrha mouthed._

 _There was a flash of light. An explosion of sound. Ruby screamed-_

-and woke with a start, strangling a cry before it could leave her lips. She could feel tears on her cheeks and she was covered in cold sweat. She took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes, willing her heart to stop pounding. It had been a while since she'd had that nightmare. She thought she might have finally been past it.

With a sigh, Ruby rolled onto her side and stared out the window beside her. She always woke with the dawn. Seeing the first rays of light visible over the horizon, bathing the sky in hues of purple and orange, she started to relax. She could watch the light paint the landscape as she lay in bed, the daylight helping chase away the memories the nightmare had stirred. Besides, in their place there were new fears and new anxieties face. The University of Haven was still new to her, its sprawling campus mostly alien to the young girl. It had been hard enough starting at Beacon two years ahead of the rest of her friends. Then, at least, she'd had Yang. Then, the city of Vale was within sight of Beacon's cliffs. Her island home of Patch was just a video call away.

She was in a whole new world now.

Before the sun could peek over the horizon, Ruby rolled out of bed. She grabbed her running clothes and made her way to the bathroom. She opened the door as slowly as she could, but it squeaked loudly all the same. She winced as it did, the last thing she wanted to do was wake her roommates. Jaune and Nora were both heavy sleepers, but Ren was another story altogether. She slipped inside, locking the door behind her. She splashed water on her face to help rinse the sleep out of her eyes and changed as quickly as she could. Once she was dressed in shorts and a tank top, she poked her head out of the bathroom door.

Sure enough, the door to the balcony was open and she could see Ren's profile standing out in the cool morning air. Ruby grabbed her running shoes and stepped outside with him, closing the door behind her.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked sheepishly as she started unlacing her shoes. Ren smiled at her and shook his head. He nodded back towards the room and Ruby glanced through the window at his bed. Nora had seemingly evacuated her own bed and was somehow sprawled over a good three quarters of Ren's while still managing to wrap every inch of blanket she could around herself. "Oh, I see," Ruby said, stifling a giggle.

Ren nodded sagely before resuming his staring contest with the horizon. He was already fully dressed in his usual white pants and loose-fitting green shirt. His hair had grown out long over the summer, falling down to his waist, though he'd kept the single pink highlight that ran down the left side of his head. It matched his eyes.

Ruby followed his gaze. The people of Haven had built their city, and subsequently their university, high in the windswept cliffs of Mistral's plateaus. The dorm they had been living in over the summer looked out over a pretty severe drop followed by a breathtaking view of the valley below. A river cut through the valley, and along its shores, lush foliage had sprung up, thick and beautiful to behold. All along the walls of the valley, trees twisted out of the rocks, vines growing up their trunks and then seeking a way across the stony surface themselves. They seemed to be begging those with a penchant for adventure to climb them. Yang would have loved it here.

"Nora was having nightmares again," Ren said, interrupting her thoughts.

Ruby bent to lace up her shoes to avoid looking at him. It didn't surprise her. She'd heard her before, and Ruby was willing to bet this wouldn't be the last time either. She would never say anything though. Nora had been hell bent on helping her friends get through the summer, her eternally energetic and upbeat attitude a much welcome respite from the pain and sorrow the attack on Beacon had left in its wake. She'd kept it up all the way from Vale to Mistral, during every leg of their long journey. But Ruby had noticed that she hardly ever left Ren's side. That wasn't too unusual in and of itself, but sometimes she'd see her hold his hand as if for dear life, and sometimes, if he wasn't within eyesight, Ruby would notice a look of sheer panic in her blue-green eyes. Ruby may have been young, but she wasn't stupid. Nora was hurting just as bad as the rest of them.

Beacon University, as well as the University of Haven and other prominent schools around Remnant, observed an old tradition dating back to the huntsman and huntresses of old her uncle used to tell her stories about. Each first year class was given a task, one that would force them to come together, sometimes with strangers, and cooperate, forming groups of four. These groups would be allowed to live together, and partners within that foursome were viewed as responsible for each other's successes and failures. It was a system designed to promote unity and cooperation, to bring people closer together. Of course, not all groups stayed together. Some drifted apart over the years, only checking in with one another on a perfunctory basis as other relationships formed. Others, however, grew into friendships that lasted lifetimes and bonds that could never be broken. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren had been one such group.

Ruby had thought she and her friends would be another.

Ruby stood and leaned against the railing, looking at Ren. His expression was distant, but she knew him about as well as anybody could claim to at this point. She knew that he was the kind of person who could focus all of his attention on you without needing to look at you. She put a hand on his arm.

"Have you talked to Nora yet?" she asked, gently.

The corner of Ren's mouth turned up. "You know I haven't."

"You should," she said simply.

"She knows how I feel," he replied.

"Yeah. And you know how she feels. But sometimes things need to be said to make them real." There was a long pause, long enough for the sun to drift up and perch itself on the edge of the horizon. Ruby withdrew her hand slowly and turned to leave.

"What if I mess it up?"

Ruby paused at the door. "You won't." She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling. She'd seen it before, when he'd first admitted his feelings for the impossibly energetic redhead to her. It was sad, but genuine.

"You don't know that. After everything we've been through together, after Beacon and Pyrrha…" He took a deep breath. "I can't afford to lose her."

Ruby was at a loss for words. She wanted to tell him that it wouldn't matter, that if they loved each other, they would always be there for each other. That they would always be happy. But the words stuck in her throat. She saw her sister's face in her mind, her eyes burning red flames. She could hear the heart-wrenching pain in her voice the night after the attack. _"Blake ran."_

"Have fun on your run Ruby," Ren said. "Be safe." She looked away, guilty. He was giving her a way out. A way to not have to say what was she was thinking. Sometimes she got the impression that Ren could read minds. She left him alone with his thoughts, closing the balcony door behind her as quietly as she could. She thought she saw Nora move out of the corner of her eye, but pretended not to notice. She snagged her headphones and scroll from her side table and headed outside.

The morning was still cool, the sun not quite managing to burn away the gathered morning mists just yet. Summer was almost over, and in the early hours of the morning it was easy to feel the first fingers of autumn clinging to the air. Classes would be starting shortly, a thought that both excited and terrified Ruby. It would be good to have work to distract her of course, but classes meant meeting new people. Meeting new people meant introducing herself. Introducing herself would draw a lot of questions. She wasn't looking forward to talking about Beacon.

After a few stretches to make sure her limbs were warmed up, Ruby snapped on her headphones and clipped her scroll to her waistband. She started off at an easy jog. She'd made sure one of the first things she'd learned when she came to stay at Haven was the best path from her dorm to the running track. It took her through the heart of campus, a large plaza where a student union, dining hall and library had all been erected. It was from this plaza that the rest of the campus spiraled out. Class buildings formed the next "ring" and beyond that was the dorms. This view of campus was a little simplistic, given the hilly nature of the campus grounds and the twisting meandering footpaths that connected it all together. Still, the lawns, where the rocky soil allowed for grass to grow, were well cared for, lush and green, and there were enough trees to offer students protection from the occasionally vicious noon sun as it beat down on them.

Ruby turned up her speed a little bit, feeling more comfortable with each stride. The rhythm of her feet hitting the sidewalk was comforting, each impact it sent up her leg invigorating. She moved faster, the wind blowing through her jet black hair, moving her legs now in time with the beat of the song she was listening to. Before she'd reached the plaza, she was flying, her legs and arms pumping with practiced ease as she let her body take over, traversing the familiar path on autopilot.

It didn't take her long to reach the track. It was out past some of the dorms reserved for upperclassmen. The campus sloped down here, forming a natural bowl of sorts and the track had been laid out to run around the inside of the bowl's "base." Turf had been laid inside the quarter-mile ring for other use. Mostly field sports practiced out there. The organized sports had their own fields a little further off. As classes had gotten closer, more and more people started showing up at the track. This morning, Ruby noticed somebody had dragged a mat and a pole out onto the turf and were currently in the process of setting up a high hurdle. A little ways from them, a group of students were doing exercises under the supervision of another student with dark skin and blonde hair. There was a group of three people jogging together on the track and a group of four juggling a soccer ball and watching the others practice.

Ruby slowed down as she neared the track. She slipped her scroll off her waistband and pulled up the stopwatch on it. Usually she preferred running trails, letting her feet carry her wherever they may, getting to see all sorts of new sights and sounds. But tracks were easier for timing herself. She made her way to the middle of the straight closest to her. She checked her scroll to make sure it would start timing when she took off, then took a starting position. Twelve and a half laps. She took a deep breath.

And she was off. It wasn't quite the same as before, it wasn't the same sense of flying, unrestrained by any force as petty as gravity. She had to pace herself. She couldn't burn out everything at once. Her breaths were measured and even, her speed consistent, unwavering. She could feel the blood pumping in her veins, the spring of the tartan with each smack of her running shoes. She tried to hold on to that, to the consistency, the comfort in the routine. Each step was one more away from the pain of the summer, each lap was another mile she could put between herself and her memories.

Despite this, however, she found her mind wandering and, as it often did these days, it wandered to Jaune. Hopelessly naive Jaune. He had barely spoken in the week following Pyrrha's death. She didn't know the extent of their relationship, but They had been close ever since their first days at Beacon, and they had seemed to grow even closer during the Vytal Festival.

The two of them had been a study in contrasts. Pyrrha had been a legend, one of the most promising martial arts students Remnant had ever seen and brilliant besides. Jaune… wasn't. However, Pyrrha had been able to see his potential, despite his shocking lack of aptitude for anything academic. With her help, he'd managed to become not only a competent student, but one of the best in the class. She'd even heard that the two had been sparring partners on occasion, though Ruby couldn't imagine that going well for the blond boy.

He'd improved as the summer had gone on, eventually agreeing to make the trip to Haven with her, Ren and Nora, but Ruby still felt like it was her job to be there for him. To be strong for him. For all of them.

 _Afterall_ , she thought, _who else do I have?_

She pushed herself harder, relishing the sweet ache in her legs, letting it force everything else away. She ran from shadows and from memories. She tried to run from pain itself. Faster, just a little bit faster. She didn't care if she burned out anymore. Her lungs were on fire, but still she pushed harder.

Her scroll's alarm startled her and she gradually began to slow down. Twelve and a half laps, done. Her legs hurt and the cool of the morning was fading, leaving her hot and thirsty, but she welcomed the heat and soreness. After coming to a walking pace, she made her way off the track and collapsed on the gently-sloping hill that lead away from the track. The dusty soil managed to support some small amount of grass, just enough to be a tolerable cushion while she recovered.

"Hey, you, first-year. What was your time?"

Ruby opened her eyes and saw the dark skinned blonde girl she noticed earlier standing over her. She wore a black sports bra and matching leggings. Draped over the whole ensemble was a loose-fitting top belted at the waist with red ribbon. It was asymmetrical, with one of her arms left bare.

Ruby had never been good at talking to strangers, and she fumbled a bit as she reached for her scroll. She hadn't actually checked her time yet. "Um, fourteen minutes and, uh, twenty eight seconds."

The girl whistled, impressed. "You do that kind of time a lot?"

Ruby shrugged. The stranger had a very intense look, and the younger girl felt uncomfortably like those golden eyes were evaluating her. "I guess. I only just started timing myself again. I took a little time off from it this summer so I guess it's just been good to get back out there you know? I just really like to run is all…" she trailed off, making an effort to keep herself from babbling on. Fortunately, the older girl didn't seem to care. She held out her hand instead. Ruby took it and made a small noise as she was dragged onto her feet.

"I'm Arslan," the girl said, turning the assistance into a hand shake. "I'm the captain of the track and field team here at U of H. You are a first year, right?"

Ruby retracted her hand and rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually, no, but I get that a lot. I'm a second year, I just transferred to Haven over the summer."

A look of understanding crossed Arslan's face. "I thought I recognized you. You're Ruby Rose, aren't you? You were the youngest person competing in the Vytal Festival Games."

Ruby blushed, staring determinedly at the ground. "That's what they told me."

"That's unbelievable," Arslan gushed. "I knew you were fast, but I thought you were just a sprinter. I mean, I watched you race the four hundred meter, and that was impressive enough on its own, and now you're telling me you can do a 5k too?"

Ruby felt at the moment that she'd trade all her speed for the ability to sink into the ground and disappear. She'd never been a big fan of all the attention she got; she just liked to run. She was good at it. It was Yang who had convinced (read:blackmailed) Ruby to try out for the track and field team at Beacon in the first place. "I just do distance running for fun," she mumbled, kicking a loose pebble aimlessly. "Sprinting is all I ever really did for, you know, the school."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up. The look she met wasn't one of pity. Or at least, not entirely pity. There was something maternal in the look she received.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Arslan said. "Beacon didn't deserve that." Ruby swallowed past a lump in her throat and nodded. Arslan smiled warmly at her. "But you're here now. Sometimes it's better to focus on what we have rather than what we don't, right?" Her smile was infectious and Ruby couldn't help but smile shyly back.

"That's the spirit," the older girl said. "If you just transferred, you must not know a lot of people here. I think you should come try out for the track and field team. It'd be a great way to meet some new people. Plus, not gonna lie, being able to say I recruited a prodigy for our team would be pretty huge for me."

Ruby blushed harder. "I'll think about it."

Arslan nodded. "We meet here to work out every morning, and we train in the evenings five times a week. Feel free to drop by anytime if you want to get some practice in before tryouts." With another warm handshake, she bid the young girl farewell and headed back to her team, bellowing instructions at them as she went.

Ruby exhaled, feeling an odd sense of relief. She'd made it through an entire conversation with a stranger without embarrassing herself. That must have been some kind of record.

 _Are you proud of me Yang? I'm trying._

She shifted her headphones from her neck to her ears again and started walking back towards her dorm. She was looking forward to a long shower and maybe, if she was lucky, a stack of Ren's pancakes. The journey back through campus wasn't as lonely as it had been heading for the track. Most of the students had returned already in anticipation of the start of classes, and that meant that even this early, the campus was beginning to come alive. There were already a few dozen students milling around the plaza as she passed through it. Most were heading for the dining hall, though some were sitting on low walls or outside the library clutching paper coffee cups.

Near the library there was a bit of a commotion. A group of girls were standing huddled together giggling to themselves and taking turns shoving their members towards the doors of the building. Ruby altered her path and pulled down her headphones, her curiosity piqued.

"I told you he wouldn't be in there," said a voice with the accent Ruby had learned was associated with Mistral's "high society" crowd. "Since when has Sun ever visited a library?"

"What's wrong with libraries?" another voice responded. "Besides, we've looked everywhere else. Unless you're trying to tell me he broke into a classroom the week before classes start."

Three boys were making their way out of the library doors. Ruby recognized the speakers immediately: Scarlet David with his odd accent and Neptune Vasilias. The third boy was Sage Ayana. All three, along with their friend Sun Wukong, had been transfer students at Beacon last semester, there to compete in various parts of the Vytal Festival Games. Ruby gave a little wave as she passed by.

"Ruby?" Neptune said, walking straight past a girl who looked like she had come up to say hello. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Ruby shrugged. "I transferred to Haven so that I wouldn't lose any momentum while they rebuilt Beacon. They said it was going to take at least a year and I didn't really feel like sitting at home so…" she suddenly became distracted by the half dozen death glares she was getting from the group of girls.

"Really? That's great!" Neptune said with a grin. Like all the members of Sun's group, Neptune was very handsome and almost too charming for his own good. His blue hair was always expertly tousled and he had the kind of smile that made you feel like you were the only person in the world. He dressed nice too, always wearing a tie and slacks, their formality offset by the red jacket he wore with the sleeves rolled up and fingerless gloves that went all the way up his forearms.

Of course, Ruby also knew he was a huge dork. Sun had taken a liking to Blake when they'd first met at Beacon last year, and as a result, Sun and Neptune had spent a lot of time with their group. He tried hard to cover it up, but deep down, Neptune was really just as awkward as Ruby herself was, if not more so. She knew less about Scarlet and Sage, but if Sun spoke highly of them, she was willing to bet they were good people.

"Have you seen Sun anywhere?" Sage asked her. He was the tallest of the group, dark skinned with green hair. He wore his usual outfit: a long white coat with a stylized green pattern on the back and nothing underneath it. Not that he really needed anything under it, Ruby thought feeling her face flush a little.

"Um, no, haven't seen him," Ruby said looking very carefully at his face. _Bad thoughts!_

"That's so weird," Scarlet said. Ruby had always thought he dressed like a pirate who had access to a high-end fashion store. His outfit was all white with silver fastenings and he had a red coat draped uselessly over one shoulder. His red hair grew long on the right side of his face and was shaved on the left. Ruby was also pretty sure he was wearing eyeliner.

"You don't know where he is?" she asked. Neptune shook his head.

"After, you know, what happened at Beacon, he didn't come back to Haven with us. Said he had something he needed to take care of and he'd see us when school started up again."

"Does he do that often?" Ruby remembered when her group had first met Sun. He'd decided that the official transportation that would bring the students to Beacon wasn't fast enough, so he'd stowed away on a boat instead, arriving alone a full two weeks before anybody else had.

Sage shrugged his huge shoulders. "Often enough. But he's usually more precise about when he will return."

Scarlet nodded in agreement. "I mean, we're supposed to perform at the welcome concert in a few days and we don't have _anything_ ready."

Neptune flashed a panicked look at Scarlet, shaking his head wildly but the damage was done. "Perform?" Ruby asked, glancing between Scarlet and Neptune.

Sage looked confused. "Well, yes. The four of us are in a band. Did… did Sun and Neptune never tell you?"

Ruby looked at Neptune with barely contained mirth in her silver eyes. "He failed to mention it." Neptune's face hit his hand with an audible smack.

Scarlet and Sage looked at each other with matching befuddled expressions before seemingly shrugging it off. "Well, we were going to get some breakfast," Scarlet said. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

"Thanks, but I really need a shower before I do anything else."

"Suit yourself," Sage said. The two boys said goodbye and headed towards the dining hall. Ruby noticed the number of dark looks she was getting from the unacknowledged girls behind them had only gotten worse.

"I'll catch up in a second," Neptune called after them before grabbing Ruby's arm and dragging her off around the corner of the library. He turned to face her, his expression deadly serious. "Look, Ruby, whatever you do, you CANNOT tell Blake that Sun is in a band, okay? It's like, the one thing he made me promise never to tell her. I mean, not like he's _ashamed_ of it per say, but it's just, well, it's a little… embarrassing okay? Especially with, um, well, the kind of music we sing."

"Why, are you guys some kind of boy band?" Ruby asked sarcastically. When answered her with a look of deep embarrassment, she couldn't contain her laughter anymore. "You guys ARE a boy band!" she shrieked, holding her sides and howling with laughter.

"Hey, look, people really like our music, alright?" Neptune said defensively.

Ruby managed to collect herself for a moment. "What are you guys called?" she wheezed.

Neptune looked like he wanted a hole to open up in the floor and swallow him. He muttered something unintelligible.

"What?" Ruby asked, breathless with anticipation.

"Sun's Out, Gun's Out," he said louder.

Ruby fell over laughing. Neptune waited patiently until she was breathing normally again.

"If you tell Blake anything about this, I'm dead. Please Ruby, you can't say a word."

That finished off the last of Ruby's giggles. She felt a stab of pity in her stomach, but she wasn't sure if it was for herself or for Sun. "You won't have to worry about that Neptune," she said, her voice small.

He noticed the change straight away. "What's wrong? You didn't come here alone did you? I imagined if you were here, you brought the others too."

"Nope, just me," Ruby said with a smile she hoped was convincing. "Well, I did bring people. Jaune, Ren and Nora."

Neptune's expression shifted to one of pity. "How are they holding up?"

"Good. I mean, as good as could be expecting. We all still miss her." The thought of Pyrrha brought back the pain of the nightmare and Ruby felt her eyes sting.

"Yeah, I can imagine. I wish I'd known her better. She seemed pretty incredible."

Ruby swallowed past a lump in her throat. "She was."

There was a momentary pause. Neptune looked like he was trying to decide if he should do anything for her. She knew he could be kind of hopeless when it came to emotional conversations. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'm fine, I promise."

Neptune looked unconvinced. "Maybe you should talk to your team," he said. "I mean, they may not be here, but you could always send them a message." Neptune was a nice guy. Ruby knew he was trying to help. She tried to make her smile a little bigger.

"You know, that's a great idea. I'll go to the library later and record something." Neptune seemed to exhale with relief. Remembering Ren earlier, Ruby decided to help him out. "You should go catch up with Sage and Scarlet," she said. "After all, it sounds like you guys need to rehearse."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh ha ha, very funny," he said, but when he said goodbye, he was smiling. Ruby watched him go before settling against the wall of the library, hugging her legs to herself. Suddenly she wanted to be alone more than she wanted a shower or even some of Ren's pancakes.

She was so grateful that he, Jaune and Nora had come with her to Haven, but she missed her team more than anything in the world. She would have given anything to be able to talk to one of them even over a video call. Unfortunately, there were a couple of hurdles to that plan. The first was a result of the attack on Beacon. The Cross Continental Transmit tower there had been destroyed. Without it, communication via scrolls was limited to a local network. The only way to send something internationally was to physically ship it. The postal system was still using its airships, even if they weren't available for personal transportation, but it could still take days to send and receive a recording.

The second reason hurt more though. The truth of the matter was, nobody was talking to Ruby. Blake had run the night of the attack after accompanying Yang to the hospital. Ruby had no idea where she'd gone or why, but her disappearance had devastated her older sister. The two of them had tried to hide it as best as they could, but Ruby had known they'd been involved ever since she borrowed Yang's scroll without her permission. The text message she had accidentally received had practically made steam come out the young girl's ears and left very little question as to the nature of their relationship.

Still, Ruby hadn't realized how serious it was until Blake left. Her usually chipper, energetic and outgoing big sister had just shut down, seemingly overnight. She barely ate, she didn't talk, and she never wanted to leave her room. Ruby had tried a few times to convince her to transfer to Haven with her, but eventually gave up. Their dad, Taiyang, had assured Ruby that she just needed some time to heal, to get used to living with her injury, but Ruby wasn't so sure. When Ruby had arrived at the University of Haven, there had been a message waiting for her from her dad. Yang had left with all the money she had saved up and nobody knew where she was.

Then there was Weiss, her partner. They'd met the day before initiation much to Weiss's initial displeasure. Ruby couldn't say she'd liked the heiress much when they'd first met either. She had been cold and distant, so obsessed with being perfect that she'd snapped at every tiny thing Ruby did. But Ruby had sensed something more to her and through diligent effort, over time the two had become best friends. Ruby couldn't have explained how it happened, or why she'd even been so determined to befriend the ice queen. She just knew that, by the end of their first year, Ruby could have talked to Weiss about anything. She was always there for her in a way that even Yang couldn't always have been.

But after the attack, her father, who had never approved of Weiss attending Beacon University in the first place, had come to take her back to Atlas. Ruby knew that she hadn't had a choice in the matter. Weiss had never made a secret out of how she felt about her father or her life back at Atlas, at least not once they'd started opening up to one another. Ruby just knew Weiss couldn't have been happy where she was. And yet, the she must have sent her partner a dozen messages over the summer without a single reply. Ruby had sent the last one the day before she'd left for Haven, telling Weiss where she could reach her if she wanted to talk. Still, nothing.

That's when the first of the doubts had crept in. Maybe Weiss had never been the friend Ruby thought she was. Maybe she was just somebody she tolerated, counting the days until she could return home to the life of wealth and power she'd left behind. Maybe when she'd gotten home, she'd realized she'd made a mistake leaving in the first place. Maybe befriending Ruby had been a mistake as well.

Ruby buried her face in her arms and sat there, her back against the cool brick wall of the library until she felt like she could walk around campus without embarrassing herself. She wasn't sure how long she sat there for, but by the time she stood up again, the campus was practically teeming with students and she was getting more than a few funny looks from people passing by. She wiped tears from her face and headed back to her dorm, more tired now than she had been after her run.

When she walked in, she saw that Jaune was dressed and helping Ren clean up breakfast. Their room had a ridiculously small area crammed into a corner that could have almost been called a kitchen. It had a really tiny oven with a stovetop anyways, as well as a sink. The two boys were basically arm-and-arm getting things cleaned up, but it didn't really seem to be a problem.

Jaune noticed her first. "Oh, hey Ruby" he said with a wave that sent a haphazard stack of (fortunately plastic) dishes cascading to the floor. Ren glared at him. "Oh jeez, sorry about that," Jaune said sheepishly. Apparently he'd been on the short side most of his life before hitting a massive growth spurt right before he went to Beacon. Now he was tall and lanky, and constantly seemed to be uncomfortable in his skin as a result. Still, Jaune had been amongst the first people Ruby had met at Beacon, and the two had found common ground in the world of being socially awkward. Besides, Ruby liked his eyes. They were very blue, and always kind.

"Did Nora leave any pancakes in her wake?" She didn't see her in the room, which meant she'd probably already headed to the gym. It was pretty much the only thing Ruby could think of that she did without Ren. Something about him holding her back.

Ren pointed to the oven. "I hid a stack from her in there."

"You didn't hide it!" Jaune protested from where he was on the floor gathering dishes. "You told _me_ to guard them!"

"And you did an admirable job," Ren said solemnly.

Jaune grumbled something while he finished re-stacking the dishes. Ruby gave him a hug from behind. "My hero," she said with a laugh before retrieving the still-warm plate from the oven. She poured syrup over them before perching herself on her bed. "So, you guys have anything planned for the day?"

Ren shrugged. "I think Nora said something about exploring the valley. She said most of it while she was already outside though, so I couldn't be sure." Ruby looked at Jaune, her cheeks stuffed full of fluffy, syrupy goodness.

"Same old, same old," he said. Ruby groaned.

"The library again? You know classes haven't started yet, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm not like you and Ren, okay? I'm just trying to make sure I'm completely prepared for this next semester." Ruby glared at him, but it was just for show. She was proud of him, and she knew Pyrrha would have been too.

Ren's scroll started ringing and he pressed the button to answer it. Before he could put it to his ear, Ruby heard a high-pitched squealing coming from the other end, followed by garbled, too-fast speech. Ren regarded the phone calmly. "I'll be right there," he said before cutting off the cacophony. It was a good thing he spoke Nora.

"Looks like I'm being summoned," he said with a sigh, but he was smiling ever so slightly.

"I'll walk down with you," Jaune said, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. When he was halfway out the door he stopped and looked back at Ruby. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Somebody came by for you earlier, said he was from the CCT tower. He dropped this off." He tossed her a small chip, meant to be inserted into a scroll. Jaune waved and shut the door behind him.

Ruby set her empty plate of pancakes aside and regarded the chip curiously. It was the kind you recorded messages on, but she had no idea who would be contacting her. She'd only just sent her last message to her father two days ago.

She inserted the chip into her scroll and brought up the messaging app. There was a brief moment while it loaded the file and then - her heart lept out of her chest - she saw Weiss's face appear on the screen. Ruby felt tears in her eyes as she drank in every inch of her partner's face. Her ridiculously blue eyes, her long white hair that Ruby had always been jealous of, even the faded scar over her left eye that was the only mark on her otherwise flawless skin. Ruby thought she had never been happier to see somebody.

"Hi Ruby," the recording said, and Ruby had to keep herself from answering. "I can't apologize enough for not getting in touch with you earlier." Ruby noticed that her expression was pained, guilt plain in her eyes. "I can only imagine what you have been going through. There are so many things I need to tell you, but they can wait. For now, I need your help. I know," she paused and took a deep breath, her voice shaking a little, "I know you may be angry at me, and for good reason. All I can say is that I promise I will do everything I can to make it up to you. If...if you're willing to help me, here's what I need you to do.

"I know it is a strange request, but I need to get in touch with your uncle, the one who was there… that night. This message contains two numbers that have been loaded into your scroll already Take the first number to the CCT tower in Haven, it will put you directly in touch with Qrow. Tell him: "Winter is calling in her favor," and then read him the second number."

Ruby listened, half-fascinated, half confused, but she took it all in regardless. When Weiss was done, she took a deep breath before finishing the message. Ruby couldn't have been sure, but it looked like she was blinking away a tear. "I...I'm sorry again Ruby," the pale girl said. "I really hope I will see you soon, I'll explain everything then. I just want you to know that I...I really...I miss you." She looked away from the camera and rubbed at one eye. "Take care of yourself Ruby."

And with that, she was gone. Ruby sat in a stunned silence staring at her scroll for a few long moments. It almost seemed too surreal; so long with no word from anybody, and now Weiss, looking almost scared, asking her to do things that seemingly made no sense whatsoever. What seemed the most odd to Ruby in that moment, even though she knew it shouldn't, was how Weiss could possibly think she was _mad_ at her. Didn't she realize that she would just be thrilled to hear from her? Ruby shook her head. Like Weiss had said, there would be time to explain. Right now, she was going to help her. That's what friends did.

But she certainly hadn't made it easy. Not that her task would be difficult, it was just that, ever since the night Beacon was attacked, Ruby had been...hesitant to contact her uncle. The festival took place during the last month of classes, and he'd been there for most of them. Ruby had always loved her Uncle Qrow. When she was growing up, his visits had been few, but always memorable. He told her the best stories, of heroes and monsters in a forgotten age. He told her of incredible adventures and fairy tales with magic and good triumphing over evil. The opportunity to see more of him was amazing, and like any good uncle, he'd spent plenty of time with his nieces when he could.

Then, the attack had come. The nightmare from last night rose unbidden to her mind. She saw Pyrrha, helpless as the gunshot rang out. Her body had gone limp. There had been so much blood. Ruby's screams had drawn the men's attention and they turned on her. There was nowhere to run.

Qrow had been there like some terrible god of death. He was tall and gaunt, dressed in shades of black and grey. He wielded a scythe nearly twice as tall as Ruby herself was, the blade viciously sharp and dripping with blood. He swung it faster than her eyes could follow, and two of the men had fallen in four different directions. More gunshots rang out in the night, but somehow they seemed not to affect him. He charged the men, grunting as though he were absorbing punches rather than bullets. Another swing of his scythe relieved one of the men of his arm and his screams echoed through the air as Qrow's blade buried itself in the final man's sternum. Ruby didn't remember throwing up, but she remembered the taste of bile in her mouth as Qrow had lifted her in his arms. He had smelled like blood. The next thing she knew, Ruby was on the shuttle sobbing hysterically as more explosions rang out from the school behind her.

The memories made Ruby's stomach roil and she forced her mind away from them. She hadn't really talked to her uncle since that night. If she was being honest with herself, she was terrified of him, and she wasn't looking forward to having to see him now. But Weiss wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important. She trusted her partner, and she refused to let her down.

Ruby showered quickly and dressed in the outfit that had become her norm over the summer. Yang had always given her a hard time about her fashion sense, but as Ruby adjusted the buckles on her boots and made sure the corset she wore was laced up properly, she admired her reflection and thought she made old-fashion work. As a final touch, she fastened on her red cloak with the hood that she'd had since, well, since Uncle Qrow had given it to her when she was small. It had swallowed her then, but now it hung to mid-calf down her back. Unless she was running, she never left her dorm room without it.

She headed out the door, determination etched on her face. She would be strong for her friends. She had to. They were everything to her.

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter is a little exposition-heavy, but I hope I managed to put in enough character moments to keep it interesting. Leave a review if you have feedback, I'm always looking to improve! Cheers.


	3. Chapter 3: The Heiress

**Chapter 3: The Heiress**

 _Remember your training Weiss._ She took a deep breath in, bringing her rapier up to guard. _Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! Slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and…_

The buzzer went off and Weiss Schnee struck. This wasn't their first bout, and her opponent had begun to anticipate her tactics. He retreated, his footwork clumsy but quick. He saw an opening and lashed out, pushing off his back foot with a precise jab. Weiss parried the thrust, sweeping aside his blade with a slightly unnecessary flourish. Her return was quick, sharp and aimed straight as his heart. He fell for the feint, sweeping his blade to knock hers aside. She circled her wrist, just the bare minimum amount of movement necessary to swing around his defense and place the tip of her blade against his chest. There was another sharp noise from the buzzer, and the match was over. Weiss rapped her opponent gently on the top of his mask before stepping back to remove her own.

"You know, with all the time you had to practice, I am a little surprised you are not more of a challenge," she said as she shook out her ponytail. It cascaded down her right side, past her waist in a waterfall of silvery white.

"And _I_ am surprised you managed not to impale me in the third round. You know we were supposed to be using practice blades, right sister dearest?" Her brother Whitley dragged his own mask off, and Weiss thought to herself once more how much a year and some had changed the boy. When she'd first left for Beacon University, they'd been of a similar height. He had more baby fat in his cheeks, and his eyes were wide with a childlike sort of idealism. Now, he was half a head taller than her even in the platform boots she was currently wearing. His growth spurt had seemingly taken all of his baby fat, leaving him lean and angular with high, prominent cheekbones. His eyes may have been the same color, the famous icy blue of the Schnee family, but there was an edge to them now, and they always seemed to be laughing at some joke only he understood.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you were never in any _real_ danger. And besides, they would not let me bring Myrtenaster to Beacon. I've missed using her is all." The sword was one of Weiss's prized possessions. She'd commissioned it built when she had studied pre-Last War military tactics. There had been an entire section in a book she was reading on weapons that had utilized dust to improve their performance. At first she had just assumed that meant dust-loaded rounds for firearms, but apparently there were some who used dust in less mechanical ways.

The schematics she had borrowed were part of the Schnee family's personal collection. She'd discovered that there had once been a time when Schnees carried swords with specialized dust chambers, allowing them to call upon awesome power nearly at-will. Such things were illegal now, of course, but that hadn't stopped Weiss from having a sword of her own made for her. The blade itself was forged with the finest steel and came to a deadly point. The guard, however, was less conventional. Four prongs surrounded a cylindrical revolver-like chamber with six individual slots. These slots were where, in the past, dust vials would be loaded. Instead, Weiss had had each slot fitted with a different gemstone to give it a personal flair. The prongs on the guard were filigreed elegantly, with one of them containing a trigger underneath where her fingers usually gripped the hilt. Her father hadn't been pleased when he'd found out she'd had it built, but after more than a little begging, he had finally allowed her to keep it on the condition that it never left the Schnee family estate.

"Yes, you and Winter always did have a particular affinity for relics of the past," her brother said as he let Klein undo the straps of his equipment. "And while I do admire your strengths, both of you should really spend more time looking forward. There are much greater weapons to be wielded all around you, and very few of them are made of metal." He handed his practice sword to Klein and bowed towards Weiss. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few matters to attend to before dinner." The young boy turned sharply on his heel and left the gymnasium, his head held high as he did. For a moment, she was deeply reminded of her father.

"He's changed so much," Weiss murmured as Klein came to help her unlace her own gear. She waved him off impatiently, handing him Myrtenaster instead, leaving her hands free to work the straps herself.

"He's hardly the only one, Miss Schnee," the butler answered, a twinkle in his yellow eyes. Klein had been a staple of the Schnee family estate for as long as Weiss could remember. He was more than simply a butler; Klein oversaw nearly every aspect of the grounds, acted as her father's personal assistant, and had spent nearly more time with the Schnee children growing up as their own mother did. Even then, he had spent more time with Weiss when she was young than either of her siblings. Winter grew up by father's side, learning every aspect of running the multi-billion dollar Schnee Dust Company almost before she learned to walk. As soon as Whitley learned that Klein was employed by the family, rather than a part of it, he'd looked down on him, preferring to spend his time and effort trying to win their father's love instead.

But Weiss had always loved Klein. He had been there for her when nobody else was. He was there when father was harsh, or when mother had been drinking. But even his caring presence could not weather every storm. Weiss had discovered that when Winter declared her intention to attend the Atlesian Military Academy and pursue a career in the army rather than as the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company. Father's wrath had been incredible, and after Winter's departure, most of it had been focused on his middle child. She was next in line after Winter's disinheritance, but unlike her older sister, Weiss hadn't spent her entire childhood learning the ins and outs of a company. The burden of the responsibility had been heavy, and even with Klein there as a shoulder to cry on, her childhood had been a lonely one.

Weiss vividly remembered one night, when she was twelve years old. Her father had received word of yet another attack on their company by the faunus rights activist group turned terrorist organization known as the White Fang. He had turned all of his anger and frustration on her, and when he was finally done shouting and throwing things, Weiss had fled to her room in sheer terror. She'd collapsed on the bed, sobbing, hating him, hating her life. Hating having no one to protect her.

She'd found herself staring at the mirror in her bedroom. It had a heavy wrought-iron frame and stood nearly twice her own height. She remembered crawling over to it, placing her hand on the silvered glass and imagining that she could tuck all of her problems behind it. Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could hide all of the pain and emptiness she felt inside behind the girl she saw before her. It became something of a ritual for her, using the mirror for comfort and relief.

And as much as she hated it, she had found herself doing the same thing when she'd returned home from Beacon, trying desperately to shove the pain and memories away behind her mirror. She didn't want to have to think about the friends she'd had to leave, or the fact that she might never return. She didn't want to be lonely again.

Klein put a hand on Weiss's shoulder and she looked up suddenly. She had been staring at the floor, her gear half off. Her chest felt tight and thoughts of Beacon threatened to bring tears to her eyes. She shook her head and finished shucking the protective padding she wore. Beneath it, she was in a fairly standard workout outfit - a pair of light blue shorts and a white t-shirt tight enough to fit easily under the straps of her fencing gear. Her boots had a high platform heel, a vanity that helped her feel a little more confident and had the added bonus of making it difficult for her opponent to guess her actual reach.

Klein gathered her things and handed her back her sword. Weiss gripped it gingerly. "Will that be all?" he asked her. There was some weight behind his question. Weiss simply nodded.

"Yes, thank you Klein. I think...I think I will go and prepare for dinner now."

"Very good Miss," the butler said, giving her a small bow before leaving the young heiress alone with her thoughts.

She had been alone with her thoughts for most of the summer. They were never pleasant. Her memories of the night Beacon fell were always sharp in her mind. She could smell the smoke in the air, hear the panicked screams around her. She and her friend Velvet had been frantically searching for more of their classmates before sounds of gunfire herded them towards the docks. It was there that she saw Blake and Yang.

The two had been found by Sun Wukong and his group of friends as they'd fled from Amity Colosseum. They were in bad shape. Blake had an ugly wound in her stomach that was bleeding around the rags Sun was holding against it. Somehow she was still conscious, sobbing and apologizing, her hand desperately clinging to Yang's. The blonde girl was unconscious, her breathing shallow as two of the boys did their best to bandage the stump of her right arm. Her right side was painted in blood.

She'd rode in the shuttle to the hospital, staying with her until they'd disappeared into the emergency care center. After that, she had waited in the lobby for Ruby. She wasn't far behind, apparently having received the news late. She had been accompanied by her uncle, a man named Qrow. His clothes were stained with blood and he wore an enormous sword across his back. The blade looked as though it had been bathed in red.

He hadn't stayed long, leaving after he was sure that Yang was still alive. Weiss had been left to sit up with Ruby. They stayed up until the early hours of the morning, until the doctors finally came around to tell them that the two girls were stable and would be fine. Poor Ruby had been a wreck. Her sister's recovery was a weight off her shoulders, but it was clear that something else was weighing on her. She was Weiss's best friend, against all odds, and she could tell that the younger girl hadn't told her everything that she'd seen that night. Weiss had wanted to give her time, to let her come around to it when she was ready, but she never got the chance. Her father came for her the next day.

She woke that morning with Ruby's head on her shoulder and three Atlas soldiers standing over her. She had tried to tell them she needed to wait, that she had to say goodbye, that she had to explain what was happening, but she was ushered out of the building before Ruby had so much as stirred. Each day she felt the guilt of that moment as fresh as though it were happening now, and it had only gotten worse since the news from Vale had started rolling in. The campus destroyed, the CCT tower in ruins. And Pyrrha…

She had left Ruby there alone when she'd needed Weiss most. Maybe that was why she hadn't heard from her all summer. Weiss had sent four messages now, each one progressively more pathetic as she'd grown desperate to hear back from her partner. So far, they had all been met with a stony silence. It was hard to blame her.

Weiss made her way through the halls of the Schnee estate. The east wing was devoted to recreation and physical fitness, and as such, the walls were sparsely decorated and utilitarian. Most of the rooms saw little use, with the almost sole exception of the sparring room where Weiss trained and a ballet hall Winter had insisted was built when she Weiss had first shown interest in dancing. There were two ways to get to the west wing, where her room was. One of them would take her north, through the part of the house her father reserved for business. Most of the activity in the estate was concentrated there at any given point, with the house staff and security that were always present to attend to the man's needs. Weiss didn't feel like chancing an encounter with her father, so she made her way through the entrance hall instead.

She liked this room better. The entrance hall was dominated by a sweeping marble staircase with elaborately carved posts holding the guardrails. At the top of the stairs was an enormous white statue depicting a twisting two-headed snake, one of the legendary creatures of Grimm if the books she'd read were to be believed. A glass chandelier that looked as though it were carved from the ice crystals hung above the whole place, bathing the room in soft white light. She entered from the second floor balcony and immediately heard a commotion going on from downstairs.

Weiss peered over the railing to get a better look. Below she saw four of the estate's security team arguing with a tall white-haired woman in the uniform of an Atlas Specialist. "Winter?" Weiss said to herself, confusion plainly visible on her face. She hurried to the staircase, straining to hear the conversation below.

"What do you mean 'he's busy?'" Winter was saying, raising her voice slightly. Even from this far, Weiss could see the frustration etched into the lines of her face.

"I'm sorry Miss Schnee," the man who seemed to be most in charge was telling her. "He told us that he is not accepting visitors right now. No exceptions."

Winter crossed her arms, staring down the security guard with the ferocity of a giant bear. "Fine, then I will just wait here for him. My father cannot stay locked in his tower forever."

The men exchanged glances with one another, clearly dreading what was coming next. "Um, apologies Miss Schnee," one of the men said, "but we have orders to escort you from the premises."

Winter's eyes narrowed to slits and her voice dropped to a dangerously low pitch. "You have orders to do _what_?" Her right hand drifted meaningfully to the hilt of the saber that rested on her hip. Sensing an impending escalation, Wiess darted away from the bannister and hurried down the sweeping marble staircase that lead up to the balcony.

"Winter! Hello!" Weiss called. The three men parted giving the Specialist a good view of her sister for the first time. The older girl narrowed her eyes, but otherwise said nothing. Waiting to see how this would play out. "I'm so pleased you got my invitation," Weiss barrelled on, smiling as innocently as she could manage. "Dinner should be starting soon!"

The staff looked baffled but Weiss thought she saw a glimmer of understanding in her sister's eyes. She begged her to go along with it silently. "You know, how I invited you to dinner tonight, which is why you are here after all, is it not?" She saw a muscle working in Winter's cheek, but when she spoke, her voice was moderately calmer.

"You did not tell Father I was coming?" she asked conversationally.

Weiss tried to channel her inner Ruby and look both confused and blithely ignorant of the drama in the situation. "Oh! It must have slipped my mind, I am so sorry." She darted between the guards and took her sister's hand in her own. "You can come wait in my room, I simply _must_ have your opinion on a dress I just purchased the other day." She dragged her sister towards the west wing as quickly as she dared without causing a scene.

"Wait, Miss Schnee!" one of the staff called after her. Weiss waved at him without turning around.

"That's quite alright! I will apologize to Father myself at dinner. Thank you for your hard work!" She threw open the door to the west wing and let it slam shut behind the two of them before letting go of her older sister. She leaned against the wall and took a breath.

When she looked up she saw Winter was watching her with arms crossed, and a raised eyebrow. Weiss stood up straight and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Um, hi Winter," Weiss finally said when she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"What exactly did you think you were doing back here?" Winter asked.

"Keeping you from cutting Father's security team into ribbons, that is what I was doing!" Weiss answered back, indignity briefly overcoming her sister's intimidating aura.

Winter sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. "Thank you," she said after a moment. "I suppose, in a way, that was somewhat quick-witted of you." It was about as close to a compliment as Winter ever managed.

"You are welcome," Weiss said with a satisfied smile. It didn't last long, however. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "I doubt that I can convince Father to see you if that is still what you want."

Winter shook her head. "No, he has made it clear that that is not an option." She furrowed her brow and massaged her temple. Weiss shifted her weight from one foot to the other, aware that there was still a chance the guards would decide to come after them.

"We can wait in my room for now," she said after a moment. "The security team is not allowed in there, we will have much more privacy." Winter nodded in agreement and the two of them set off through the halls of the west wing.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Winter spoke up. "The staff is new. I did not recognize any of their faces."

"That is not so surprising," Weiss said. "Father nearly tripled security after the attack on Beacon. He hired a new head of security too, somebody to keep track of everything that goes on around here at all times."

"I bet Klein was thrilled about that," Winter said, her voice dry.

"He had his reservations. He spoke to Father about it, but you know how he can be."

"Yes, I do," Winter said, her voice sharp and bitter. They went the rest of the way to Weiss's bedroom in silence. As they approached the door, a girl stepped out of it, closing it quietly behind her.

"Oh, Sable, this is my sister, Winter." The girl turned and smiled at them sweetly. Her dark hair was long and she wore it in two pigtails that framed her heart-shaped face and astonishingly green eyes. She wore a black skirt and blouse as well as the white apron all the housemaids wore. She complimented the look with a long pair of white stockings and black flats. She was one of the smallest girls Weiss had ever met, and Weiss was comfortably taller than her even without her ever-present heels.

Winter nodded curtly to her. "Sable looks after anything I need," Weiss explained, "but she doesn't talk very much. Or ever, really. And one of these days she is going to tell me why," she said directing the last statement at Sable.

The tiny girl just smiled again and bowed deeply before heading off to clean elsewhere. Weiss shook her head and opened the door, inviting Winter inside. "She is strange, but she is the new security head's daughter or something so Father thought it would be prudent to give her a job." She followed her older sister in, shutting the door behind them. The sitting area was sparsely furnished and immaculately clean. A chair sat by a window that overlooked the grounds of the Schnee estate. An ornate writing desk carved with images of heros from fairy tails sat against one wall and there was a single couch in the middle of the room, white with blue accents. A shelf with some books and an empty metal rack made up the rest of the furnishings. Weiss hung Myrtenaster on the rack and turned to face her sister, hands clasped behind her back nervously as Winter crossed to stare out the window. She got the distinct impression that she wasn't paying attention to her.

The silence stretched between them. After a long moment, Weiss took a step closer to her sister. "Why are you here Winter?"

Winter glanced over her shoulder. Her expression was distant, and deeply concerned. It made Weiss's stomach twist nervously, though she couldn't have said why.

"Have a seat Weiss," the older woman said, indicating the couch. She did so, drawing her legs up underneath herself. Winter dragged the chair by the window over and sat so the two were facing each other. Winter looked as though she were weighing her options carefully and when she spoke, it was slowly and deliberately.

"The reason I am here today is...complicated, and growing more complicated by the hour. I want to be able to tell you, but there is much you need to hear before I can." She glanced down, organizing her thoughts, before returning Weiss's gaze once more.

"First of all, I owe you an apology, sister," she said. Weiss was more confused than ever, but she didn't interrupt. "Growing up, we both knew what kind of man Father was. He's never made it a secret. He is cold and unyielding. He believes he and he alone knows what is best for everybody else. And is temper…" she trailed off, her eyes deliberately tracing the faded scar over Weiss's left eye. Weiss looked away, her cheeks burning with the memory.

Winter cleared her throat. "As I said, we both knew what kind of man he was. I tried so hard to let you have the childhood you deserved. I wanted you to be able to explore the things you loved and chase your passions. I thought that maybe I could be your shield. But I was wrong. I was not strong enough for that."

Weiss looked up sharply. "What happened was not your fault," she started to say, but Winter held up a hand, silencing her.

"Please," she said. Weiss had never seen her sister close to tears before. She took a deep breath. "I made a decision when I left that I would not do anything else to sully Father's image for you or Whitley. As much as he hurt us, hurt you, he was still family. I had made the decision to leave, that did not mean I needed to destroy any possibility of the two of you having a relationship later in life. And besides, there are perks with being a Schnee that you do not realize you will miss until they are gone."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Weiss asked.  
"Because you deserve the truth. I have never wanted to be a wedge between you and Father, and I have never wanted to feel like you had to give up your life, your inheritance, to be a good person. You have already become a fine young woman. I could not believe how much you had grown when I saw you at the Vytal Festival last spring." Winter took her sister's hand in her own. "I am proud of you."

Weiss wasn't sure what to say. She and Winter had hardly had what one might call an emotional relationship, and seeing her this way made her feel more nervous than comfortable. "Thank you," she said simply.

"Wanting to be a part of this family, wanting to run the company one day, those things will not change what I think of you. If you ever should take Father's place, I believe you would have the capacity, and the strength, to do a lot of good for our family's reputation, not to mention the people of Remnant. But the choice must be yours."

Weiss looked away from her. "I… I thought it could be something I would want. Something I would eventually be good at. I went to Beacon to try and get some perspective, to try and see a little more of the world. And when I was there, I didn't want to come back. I started thinking, maybe there were other things I could pursue."

The truth was, if it hadn't been for her friends, she may have never even considered other paths in her life. They had all changed her so much. Before she'd met Blake, she had been just as prejudiced as her father against the faunus, adamantly refusing to admit they were anything but criminals and thieves at best. The Blake, the Blake she'd thought she'd known so well, or at least as well as anybody could, revealed that she herself was a faunus. Not only that, but she had once been a member of the very White Fang that had spent years antagonizing her father, waging war with her family's company and making her life growing up even more miserable than it had to be.

If it hadn't been for Yang, their friendship might have ended there. But Yang had surprised Weiss, showing a capacity for empathy and understanding that Weiss never would have expected from her. She had helped bring the two of them together again, and forced Weiss to look past her own blind hatred and see faunus as individuals, not a single group under a misguided banner.

Then there was Ruby. Somehow, Ruby had changed her most of all. Young, hopelessly naive Ruby who had been so smart and so talented they had offered her a spot at Beacon two whole years ahead of her other classmates. Weiss had hated her at first. She'd hated how effortless everything seemed to come to her. She was a prodigy, while Weiss had had to work as hard as she could for everything she tried to do. Weiss was forced to strive for perfection, she was a Schnee after all, and an _heiress_ besides.

But as she'd gotten to know Ruby better, she began to understand the kinds of pressures she herself was forced to live up to. How she had to deal with her own forced expectations, and the work she put into meeting those expectations. Weiss began to look past the younger girl's naivety to the unlimited caring spirit beneath, and after that, she had been unable to hate her. She found herself wanting to reach out, to teach her some of the things that she'd wished she had been taught at Ruby's age. She wanted to make sure that the young girl never felt as alone as Weiss had once.

In return, Ruby had helped Weiss recognize that she was more than just a name. She was more than what she would be in the future, and what she was now mattered too. It had been Ruby who had convinced her to start fencing for Beacon, and Ruby was one of her few friends who had heard Weiss sing. She had said her voice was beautiful.

Winter squeezed Weiss's fingers, pulling her reluctantly away from an empty classroom with the sun setting through the window. Away from that smile and those bright silver eyes. Winter was speaking again, and Weiss focused on her words instead, brushing a tear from her cheek.

"When I first started speaking to Father about attending AMA instead of taking the company, he tried everything in his power to keep me from attending. He even went so far as to try to bribe the headmaster to reject my application." Weiss hadn't known that. She stared at her sister with rapt attention. "He even went to great lengths to make me feel isolated. He wanted me to have no support. He kept me from seeing friends, he took away anybody I knew who may try to sway me from my path." Weiss felt a surge of anger.

"How could he do that to you?"

Winter looked at her sadly. "Because it was easier than letting me go. Manipulating people is what he does best." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a white envelope with the family crest embossed in blue on it. She held it out to Weiss.

"What is this?" she asked, taking the envelope gingerly as though it might explode. When her older sister didn't answer, Weiss tore the envelope open. Inside were a small handful of chips. They looked like the kind you would record video messages on. They were small, about the size of Weiss's thumb, and each one was hand-labeled with a date. She sorted through them until she found the earliest one. It was marked the day after she'd left for Atlas.

In a flash, Weiss was on her feet, throwing open the door to her bedroom and perching herself on the edge of her king-sized mattress. She snatched her scroll from where she'd left it on her side table and shoved the chip inside. After a moment of loading, Ruby Rose's familiar, chipper visage popped up on her screen.

"Hey Weiss!" the young girl said and Weiss felt her hand go to her mouth. "Some of your dad's people stopped by today. They told me you were going back to Atlas with them. They said it was to keep you safe. I wish you hadn't had to leave so soon, but I can understand if your dad is concerned." There was a hint of pain in Ruby's silver eyes that sent a surge of guilt through Weiss. "I just wanted to let you know that Yang is going to be… well, she's okay. The doctors expect her to recover completely. She's… not feeling great. But I guess none of us are, huh?" The facade of cheer cracked and Weiss could see the ache in her partner's expression. That weight threatening to crush her. She looked so young.

"Blake left sometime around noon yesterday," she continued. "Apparently the doctors recommended she stay for another night, but she insisted on being checked out. I was hoping she'd be in touch today. I thought maybe she just needed some time to process things. She still might, I don't know. Yang isn't talking about what happened with anybody. It's just been… it's been hard." A tear ran down Ruby's cheek. "I miss you. I know you've only been gone a day but… it kind of feels like everything's falling apart and I just want you here again." She sniffed and wiped her face, forcing a smile back into place. "Sorry, I know it's not your fault. Just… send me a message sometime, okay? It would be nice to hear from you." She glanced behind her at something Weiss couldn't see or hear. "Oh, it looks like Dad's here to take Yang home. I have to go Weiss. I'll talk to you soon!"

The message cut out. Weiss felt as though her heart had been shoved through barbed wire. She dumped the rest of the envelope onto the side table. Four of the chips had her own delicate handwriting on the small labels, marking the date they'd been recorded on. There were eleven more besides, marked in Ruby's untidy hand. She picked up the one with the second oldest date and jammed it into her scroll.

Once again her friend's face popped up on screen. "Hey Weiss! Me again. I'm sure you're just getting settled back home, but I wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. Oh! You have to see this thing out in dad's garden-"

She popped in the next one.

Then the next one.

" _Hey Weiss!"_

" _Yang hasn't talked to me in a while…"_

" _I miss you."_

" _Still haven't heard from Blake."_

" _Hopefully I'll hear from you soon."_

" _I miss you."_

" _Thinking of you!"_

" _I miss you."_

"Hey Weiss," Ruby said in the last message. She looked so small, scared even. "I… I don't know why I haven't heard from you this summer. If, you know, you were upset or something, I hope you know you could talk to me about it. That's what friends are…" she trailed off, her voice shaking. "I'm leaving for the University of Haven today with Jaune, Ren and Nora. If you, um, change your mind and decide to get in touch, you can contact me there.

"I… I just wanted to say that, you're my best friend Weiss. No matter what you're going through, no matter what you're feeling… you're not alone, okay? Please, if you need me, I'm here." The message ended, leaving Weiss staring at her own tear-streaked reflection in the glass of her scroll.

When Weiss looked up, she saw Winter leaning in the doorway. Weiss's mind was racing. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but they all seemed to lodge themselves together into a lump in her throat.

Winter seemed to guess at at least one of them. "He didn't want you to leave in the first place," she said as gently as she could. "Now that you are back, he probably didn't want you feeling like you had a reason to return to Beacon."

It made sense. It was definitely the kind of cold, calculated move that lousy son of a bitch would pull. Weiss felt hot fury surge through her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to throw something, particularly something heavy right into his smug, arrogant face. She contented herself instead with standing and pacing furiously by the foot of her bed. She tried to calm down, to shove away the torrent of emotions threatening to make her do something truly stupid. She found herself face to face with her old mirror. She tried to shove all of this new information into it, to hide it deep within where it couldn't hurt her. She wondered briefly how much it could hold, how many terrible, painful emotions she could hope to contain before it all came crashing down around her.

When Weiss felt she had cooled off enough, she turned back to her sister. "Where did you get these? Why do you have them?"

Winter stared at her without seeing her. "I am part of an investigation for General Ironwood." Weiss knew the man by reputation, if not personally. He was the headmaster at the Atlesian Military Academy as well as the General of the Atlesian Armed Forces. Very few people in all of Remnant commanded as much power and respect as he did. "I found these when I was going through some of Father's documents at his office."

"What does the General want with Father's paperwork?"

Winter sighed and sat on the end of Weiss's bed. She bent over, resting her chin on her hands. "Weiss, what do you know about the bombs that went off the night Beacon was attacked?"

The sudden shift of topic surprised Weiss. She focused on just the facts. Facts didn't have emotional weight. Facts couldn't hurt her. "Two bombs went off," she said, "but it is theorized that one detonated early and a third was never set off. The first one went off in the bleachers during the Gold-Tier MMA Championship Match. The commonly accepted theory is that this one was meant to be detonated during the closing ceremonies. Eleven people were killed outright by the explosion. Another hundred would die later from injuries sustained, and even more were wounded.

"The second bomb went off some time later, destroying the CCT, though without any casualties thanks in no small part to the early detonation of the first bomb. The third was found in the basement of Beacon Tower, the faculty building, disarmed."

Winter nodded. "There's more to it than that. Information that the public does not know. What I am about to tell you, you can never repeat. Not to anybody."

Weiss widened her eyes. "Why tell me at all? I am not like you, I am not a specialist. I am not even in the military academy!"

"I know," Winter said, "but if my investigation is to continue, you are the only person who can help me uncover the truth." She sat up straight, steadying herself. "The bombs were not constructed with any traditional explosive. They manufactured using Dust."

Weiss rocked back on her heels. "Dust? How is that even possible? Weaponized dust is illegal, no refinery in Remnant produces it anymore. Not after the Last War." Not after the people of Remnant had nearly pushed themselves to extinction. The war had been brutal, fought on all sides with dust. Elemental energies, fire, lightning, gravity, and so much more, all hurled at one another until almost nothing was left. The treaty that had been born from the ashes of the conflict had outlined the new rules for Remnant's warfare. The first order had been to halt all production of dust in any capacity except as a fuel source. The second had been a mass disarming of the population, ridding most of the civilian population of firearms. These measures, while wildly controversial at the time, served to bring about a time of peace that had lasted nearly half a century now.

"That is what the General said. It did not make sense." Winter got up, taking Weiss's place, pacing across the room. "So I have spent the last few months digging into the records of every dust manufacturer I could find. Mining companies, refineries, even labs that receive regular dust shipments for experimentation. Military distributors, civilian car companies, anywhere I could look. Everywhere but the Schnee Dust Company."

Understanding shot through Weiss and made her stomach feel sick. "No…"

Winter shook her head. "I did not want to believe it Weiss, trust me. But there are discrepancies in many of the company's records. Numbers that do not add up, facilities that were funded but never built. It is tied up in layers and layers of paperwork, but it is all there."

"There is no way he is involved," Weiss said, suddenly on her feet. "He cannot be. Sure, Father is a colossal ass, sure he is the most arrogant man who walked the face of Remnant, but he would never willingly allow this to happen. Father hates the White Fang! He hated them when they were just a faunus rights activist group and he hates them more now!"

"You do not have to convince me," Winter said. "I've had the same thoughts myself. But the fact remains that we cannot rule out the possibility that he _may_ be involved. And since he will not speak to me, there is only one other person with access to the information I need."

Understanding dawned on Weiss. "Me. You mean me." She perched on the edge of her bed, staring at her sister in shock. Pieces started falling in place around her, the puzzle that had been Winter's visit resolving itself before her. "All of this, telling me these things, giving me the messages from Ruby, all this to convince me to… to do what, exactly?" The anger she'd tried to hide away began to flare up again. The glass that held it back in her mind was cracking. "You want me to steal company documents that may or may not implicate my father in the involvement of the single biggest terrorist attack in fifty years? A theft that will doubtlessly link back to me since I will have to use _my_ credentials to get the documents, so regardless of whether he is guilty or not, he will almost certainly disinherit me so that I can never touch the company again."

The wheels in her mind were spinning now. The cracks were growing wider. All of the pain she'd tried to hold back was pouring through her. "You want me to get myself kicked out of _my home_ for the rest of my life? To be treated like an outsider? Like _you_? Is that what you are trying to convince me to do Winter?"

Weiss was on her feet again, and an arctic gale of emotions were threatening to carry her away. "Because you know what, I did not ask for any of this! I did not _want_ to be the heiress in the first place, Winter! It was supposed to be you! But no, you run off and leave me to deal with Father, and Father's temper for _seven years_. Seven years before I finally managed to be free of him, to find my own way for a little while." She felt a lump in her throat as she thought about her life at Beacon and hot tears stung at the corners of her eyes.

"What do I have now if I do this for you? Have you thought about that? I did not ask to come back here. I had a good life, I had friends who cared about me. People who loved me, who did not just see me for my last name or what I could do for them or what I could _get_ for them. Friends who trusted me! Who depended on me! And for the first time in my whole goddamned life, I wasn't _alone_!

"And I left them." There were tears streaming down her face now, and her voice trembled. "They were in pain, and I _left them_. He _took me from them_! How can I ask them to forgive that? How can I expect them to _ever_ love me when I abandoned them like that? They may never speak to me again, and now you want to take the only home I have left…" Weiss broke off, sobs wracking her body. Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to be so fucking miserable all the time? When would she get a chance to choose a life she wanted? She missed Beacon. She missed her friends.

She missed Ruby.

Weiss wasn't sure when, but at some point she'd ended up on her bed, face buried in the mountain of pillows. She bit her lip until the tears stopped flowing so freely. She felt drained and empty inside. She managed to get her breathing back to normal, and pushed herself upright. Winter was on her feet, looking at. Her expression was fixed, but she could see her older sister's eyes wet with tears. She didn't want to have to ask Weiss to do this. She wouldn't be here unless it was important. Weiss tucked her legs beneath her and tried to keep her back straight. She felt very small then, and very, very alone.

"What do you need me to do?"

Winter took a long, slow breath. "After you get the documents, it will not be safe for you to stay here. If somebody realized what you know, it could put you in danger. Therefore, we will have to obtain the documents, then extract you from the estate."

"With all the security Father has added, it won't be easy." Weiss's voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears.

Winter nodded. "It cannot be done with just the two of us. We will need help."

"I trust you have somebody in mind."

Winter sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, yes. I need you to send a message for me."


	4. Chapter 4: The Runaway

**Content Warning:** The Blake/Adam relationship, which we are going to get into a little in this chapter, necessitates a warning for sexual violence and assault. If these things make you uncomfortable, the offending passages will begin and end with ******* asterisks. If you replace passages marked as such with "And then a bad thing happened to Blake," you'll still get the gist of things, though I won't promise the story will read exactly the same.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Runaway**

 _Blake Belladonna couldn't remember ever being so happy. She was lying in the grass on Beacon University's campus staring up at the stars overhead. The moon was full that night, big and bright. A good omen, Blake had thought to herself. A light to guide her, to give her strength._

 _Not warmth, though. It was unseasonably cool for this late in spring. Fortunately, Blake had the best heater in the world. Yang had always been like that. The girl practically radiated heat, something that Blake was all too happy to take advantage of in the dark corner of campus they had found for themselves. Tonight was the night of the opening ceremonies. After a year of excitement and anticipation, the Vytal Festival was finally here. A celebration of the peace reached between the four great nations fifty years ago, the festival was a celebration of culture as much as it was one of unity. Students, artists, and athletes from all over Remnant would gather once every four years for one of the greatest spectacles the world had to offer._

 _However, instead of packing themselves into Amity Colosseum with the other multiple thousand people to witness the start of the games, Yang had grabbed a soft old blanket, and dragged Blake away from the dorms. From where they were lying, they could see the colosseum lights and hear the faint roar of the crowd._

 _A breeze blew by overhead and Blake clutched tighter to Yang, pressing her face into the space between her neck and her shoulder. If Yang found the touch of her icy skin startling, she didn't show it. Instead, she wrapped her arm around Blake and pulled her closer beneath the blanket. Blake didn't know if they had said a word since leaving the dorms, but that almost made the night more perfect. They didn't need to say anything._

 _Of course, Yang always did say something eventually. She brought her lips close to the top of Blake's head, and even through her bow, she could feel her warm breath on her concealed cat's ears. "You know Blake, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I just wanted the right time to say it. I think this is it." Blake's heart began to hammer in her chest. She felt her breathing stop. "Blake, I think I-"_

" _Yang, wait," the dark-haired girl interrupted, craning her neck so that she could look into her partner's eyes. They were soft, and concerned, the light making their usual lilac into a deep purple instead._

" _What's wrong?" Blake fought the urge to look away, but only barely. She had never been good at this, at talking about how she felt. Especially when it was something as silly as this. But Yang had always encouraged her to say exactly what she felt, always stopped at every juncture of their relationship to make sure that Blake was comfortable, that they weren't moving too quickly. That she was okay. She'd never had anybody care for her the way Yang did._

" _I just… I don't want you to say it yet. Please." She buried her face in the blonde's neck again, feeling loose strands of her hair tickle her nose and cheeks as she did._ Please don't let me mess this up, _she thought to herself._

" _Is it okay if I ask why not?" She was so considerate. Blake had told her precious little about her past relationship, if it could even be called that. She didn't want to admit how broken she was, how he had ruined her. But somehow, she didn't have to. Yang seemed to sense the things that Blake couldn't stand to say out loud, and she was always endlessly patient with her. She didn't deserve someone like Yang._

" _I… I don't know if I can say it back. Not yet." Blake clutched her partner harder, hoping beyond hope that she would understand. "It's not that I don't care about you, because I do, so much more than you know. It's just that things are so perfect the way they are now. What we have… I'm not ready for it to change yet." She told the truth, or most of it. The part of it that mattered._

 _Yang seemed to consider that for a moment. As she did, her fingers traced lazy circles against Blake's back. She tried to focus on that sensation and nothing more. Anticipation and fear dragged the moment across an eternity._

" _Okay," Yang finally said simply. There was no anger in her voice, no doubt or sadness. It was as though she had agreed to coffee later, or to go study in the library. Blake looked up to try and gauge her expression, but Yang had turned her attention skyward and she couldn't see her face._

" _O-okay? That's it?" Blake said, pushing her luck despite herself._

" _Of course okay." She rolled over and suddenly Blake's world was filled with Yang's smiling face. Her endless mane of hair draped over both of them, spilling across Blake's own, black and gold tangling together. "I wouldn't be happy saying it anyways. Not if it made you uncomfortable." She leaned down and placed a kiss against Blake's forehead. Blake felt a tear roll down one cheek as she did, and she had to wipe it away. She cried a lot more with Yang, but it was the good kind. The kind that came from overwhelming happiness._

" _But," Yang said, "if you don't mind me asking, I'd kind of like to know where we're at. Because I really, you know, like you and care about you a lot. And I just want to make sure that this is… I mean, it's just us, right? It's not because there's um… you know…" Blake found the usually brash girl's sudden awkwardness adorable. She reached up, kissing her gently on her lips. Yang answered it in kind, easing Blake back onto the grass. She savored the kiss, enjoying the warmth that spread through her. Yang tasted like strawberries and summer. When she kissed her, Blake felt whole._

 _When the two finally parted, Blake was smiling. "It's just us. It's always been just us."_

 _Yang let out a deep breath. "Good," she said, returning the smile. "I would have hated to have to break someone's leg during the Vytal Festival. I think that would probably disqualify me from the Silvers." That made Blake giggle, and as she nuzzled her face against her partner's cheek, the fireworks began. Yang flopped back down in the grass to watch. They weren't as close as they would have been in the colosseum, but then, they wouldn't have been cuddling together if they were either. That would have been a real shame._

" _Alright, so, I'm totally fine with not saying it yet," Yang said after a few minutes, "but here's the deal. When- or, sorry, I guess, um, if-" Blake pushed herself up so that was over Yang now._

" _When," Blake assured her with another kiss._

 _That made Yang's smile brighter. "When you're ready, I get to say it first, deal?" Blake settled back down against her partner and stared up at the bursts of light in the sky with her. She breathed in the night and hoped that moments like these would never end._

" _Deal."_

When Blake opened her eyes, it wasn't the starry sky or the moon above her that she saw, but the splintered wooden beams of the warehouse she'd spent the night sleeping in. Instead of wrapped in her lover's arms she was curled up on gathered canvas sheets and tarps piled together to create a makeshift mattress. Instead of blissful happiness, she was filled with soul-crushing regret and guilt that threatened to drown her. She yearned to close her eyes, to return to perfect days and more perfect nights. Her heart ached with longing. With a massive effort, she pulled herself off of her bed - for lack of a better word - and stretched, trying to work out the kinks in her back and neck.

There wasn't any time for self-pity this morning. She had a meeting. She slid on her belt, buckling the white leather over a pair of tight black shorts that reached to mid-thigh. As she did, her hand brushed over the angry red scar on her stomach, the flesh knotted and raised. It was a familiar sensation, but no less welcome for it. Before, she had wrapped her stomach in gauze, but once the wound had healed as best as it could, she had decided to leave it uncovered. Yang wouldn't be able to hide her scars, why should she be given that luxury?

She pulled on her boots next. Their tops overlapped with the bottom of her shorts, covering her completely from the waist down. Already she could feel the sweltering heat of the Vacuo summer starting to get to her. She glanced at where her coat was hung and decided to forgo it for the moment, preferring to just wear her black halter top instead. She grabbed a simple grey bandolier and slung it over her back, cinching it tight so the magnet that was attached to it rested squarely between her shoulder blades.

Lastly, she reached down and picked up Gambol Shroud, holding it lightly in her hands. She had never wanted to take up her weapon again. When she had first come to Beacon, she had made sure it was hidden very well, deep in a part of the Forest of Forever Fall where it would be safe. She had walked away from it, away from her life with the White Fang, determined to make something of herself. Determined never to come back. And yet, here she was.

At first glance, the sword seemed to be an enormous cleaver. It had a long square blade that was deadly sharp on one edge. The dull side had a cut out of it, perfectly shaped to fit Blake's hand. Concealed inside the first blade, was a second. Thinner, more delicate, but just as deadly and ending in a wicked point. The hilt had a ribbon tied around it, long enough to occasionally be a nuisance.

Of course, like most weapons owned by thieves, miscreants and outlaws, the blade also concealed a gun. With firearms being a hot commodity, not to mention the fact that being seen with one could be tantamount to suicide in some parts of the world, it was necessary to keep such components well hidden. In Gambol Shroud's case, this meant hiding the mechanism in the sword's crossguard. The blade folded back and over to reveal the barrel and the trigger extended from inside the hilt. At a glance, it would be impossible to tell the true lethality of the weapon. She was back alright.

With a sigh, she snapped her sword to the magnet on her back. At the same time, she heard a noise from the window high above her head. It creaked open and a familiar face slipped through awkwardly, his arms full of fruit, bread and cheese. Despite this, Sun Wukong landed lightly on his feet, even having managed to close the window behind him on the way down with a flick of his long prehensile tail.

"I stole you some food," he reported, chipper as always. Morning people. Blake accepted a loaf of bread and an apple, perching herself on a crate to eat it.

"You picked a different place than yesterday, right?" she said as she tore the bread into smaller chunks.

"Sure did," Sun replied cheerfully, his cheeks already packed full. He watched Blake pick at hers as he swallowed. "You know, we wouldn't have to steal to eat if we'd stowed away on the boat from Menagerie like I suggested," he said.

Blake glared at him. How many times had they had this conversation? "Sun, the trip took weeks, there was no way we could stay hidden for so long."

"You couldn't maybe. I happen to be a master stowaway," he answered with a grin before shoving a whole banana in his mouth at once.

The ears on the top of Blake's head lay flat against her skull, but she otherwise didn't respond to him. There were times when she was genuinely glad that she had Sun around. He was surprisingly street smart, and his childhood here in Vacuo meant he wasn't a stranger to breaking the rules. He could even manage himself in a fight, having competed in the Silver-Tier MMA Tournament in the Vytal Festival, representing the University of Haven. Still, he was an unwanted companion at best, and a nuisance at worst. Besides, having an energetic and unflappable blond hit on her constantly dredged up memories she'd rather lay dormant.

She maybe could have avoided the issue of Sun's painfully obvious crush, but that would involve not being a massive coward for once in her life, and everytime she considered it, it made her stomach churn. Her life had been hard enough as it was, watching as the people around her discriminated against others of her species, calling them animals and worse behind their backs. She'd endured prejudice, stereotypes and hate her whole life for being a faunus. Somehow she couldn't imagine waving the fact that she was a gay faunus around would make her life any easier. Even if such things were more widely accepted these days, she just wanted something about her to be normal.

Besides, she'd only ever really come out to two people in her entire life, and one of them had turned out to be a monster.

"Today's that big meeting, right?" Sun said, apparently sensing Blake's mood and deciding to switch the subject. She nodded.

"The White Fang representatives should be here in another hour or so. We should get set up so that we can see them approach."  
"Right," Sun said, his tone uncertain. "So, just one more time, what's the plan here exactly?"

Blake closed her eyes and briefly imagined a world where she didn't have to deal with the ridiculous boy beside her. It was pleasant. "We have an appointment with recruiters from the White Fang. They need security detail for some big event they're apparently a part of. The event is illegal, but it's not like it's some big heist or something where somebody might get hurt. It's an easy job that will get us in with them."  
Sun nodded. "Yeah, I got that part. And we're using the fake identities we picked up in Menagerie so nobody you used to know gets word who just joined up. The part I don't understand is what comes next. Are you really serious with trying to get in with the White Fang? I mean, you spent so long trying to get away from them. I could see if this was some, like, destroy the enemy from within thing, but you haven't talked about actually doing any kind of destroying yet." Blake looked away to hide the guilt she knew was written on her face. She felt Sun take her hand.

"Look, I know things have been hard for you, okay? And I've been cool with letting you do your thing and just watching your back, I got no problems with that. But it's been a whole summer, Blake, and I only barely know what's going on here."

"Then maybe you should just leave." It came out harsher than Blake intended, but instead of pulling away from her, Sun just squeezed her hand tighter.

"You know there's an easy way to get me to go."

There was. He'd offered as soon as they'd landed in Menagerie. He'd told her that he would gladly hop on the next boat back to Mistral if she would send word of where she was and what she was doing to her friends. Blake had refused, and Sun had stayed.

"I just really don't think you should be alone right now," the faunus boy continued, "especially if you're dealing with those creeps."

"I can handle them," she said, but the bite had gone out of her voice. "Look, Sun, the truth of the matter is, I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back in with the White Fang. All I know is there's somebody looking for me. Somebody with a lot of power and influence who will stop at nothing to make life hell for me and anybody close to me. The last thing he would expect me to do is to come back, not when I've spent half my life running from him."

Sun's expression was uncharacteristically grim. "It's that guy, isn't it? The one they're saying organized the attack?"

Blake nodded, swallowing past a heavy lump in her throat. "Adam Taurus."  
Sun let out a low whistle. "Okay, so we're hiding in plain sight from one of the White Fang's biggest baddest boogeyman, got it. What's his beef with you?"

 _ ******* Hands, rough and calloused grabbed Blake's arms, forcing her on her back. He was above her, his face bathed in shadow. The horns in his hair caught the dying light of the flames, illuminating them and only them. Blake struggled against his hold, but he had always been stronger than her. "You don't know what you are," he had growled, "how could you? You _do _love me, Blake, you just don't know it yet. But you will…"_ *******

Blake pulled away from Sun, her heart beating wildly, her breathing too shallow, too fast. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately to put herself anywhere else. She settled on her dorm room, back at Beacon. Sitting on her bed, Yang snoring in the bunk above her. She was looking at the shelf she kept beside her, the one that had held all her favorite books. She named them, whispering the titles to herself, trying to see each one in her mind as she did. " _A Man with Two Souls_ , _The Lost River_ , _World of Night_ , _Gold and Glory_ ," the list went on until she felt her breathing was under control and her heart wasn't about to explode out of her chest. She opened her eyes.

Sun was staring at her, worry written across his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I will be," Blake lied. "I don't want to go into it, all you need to know is, he's a bad guy."

Sun seemed to accept that. "Bad guy, got it." He still looked troubled. "So, what happens if we get in with these guys and they want us to do something bad too? Like, I'm not sure how on board I am for trashing another school or a government building or something, are you?" He tried to keep his tone light, Blake wasn't sure Sun even knew how to be completely serious, but she could tell that this whole situation was making him more uncomfortable by the minute. She felt a stab of pity. He shouldn't be here, he was just trying to take care of her. He should have realized by now what happened to people who tried that.

"Sun, I owe you my life. There's no way I can repay you for what you did that night. If it hadn't been for you or Neptune, or Sage and Scarlet, I might not be here right now." They had found her, after. Dragging an unconscious Yang across campus, blood loss already making her head spin and her vision fade. Sun and his friends had gotten them to the docks, kept them from bleeding out before the paramedics could arrive. Blake owed them more than her life - she owed them Yang's too. "But this is something I have to do," she continued, pushing thoughts of the past aside. "As long as I'm in the open, I will be hunted, and the people around me will suffer the most." She looked up at him, her deep amber eyes imploring him to understand. "No matter where the road takes me, it's better than where I am now. I don't want this life for you, I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but if you follow me, then that's the road you're taking too."

Sun looked away from her. He drew his legs to his chest and wrapped his tail around them, resting his chin on his knees. He stayed that way a while, staring off at something Blake couldn't see. "You're a lot of things Blake, but you're not a bad person." He turned to look at her again, that mischievous smile back on his face. "I'm coming with you. I'm watching your back. And when you _do_ decide you're ready to kick some asshole terrorist butt, I'll be there helping you do that too."

Blake didn't know what to say. "There's really no stopping you, is there?" she finally responded, a small smile creeping across her lips despite herself.

"Nope!" Sun confirmed, leaping to his feet. "Now, let's go have a date with some crazy people."

They clambered up the stacked crates until they could reach the window Sun had come in this morning. The warehouse was one of hundreds that were contained in the shipyard. Breaking in hadn't been too difficult, and port towns like the one they had been frequenting in their time staying here were good places to catch up on news from all around the world. Not that much interesting had happened. All Blake had managed to learn over the summer about the attack on Beacon was that very few members of the White Fang had been captured alive and that Adam had safely escaped, brutally butchering a whole unit of soldiers who had thought to try and apprehend him. It wasn't surprising given his training and what he could do. Blake doubted that there were many people in all of Remnant who could have hoped matched his skill with Aura. She certainly hadn't been one of them.

That didn't mean she didn't have some training, however, and as she and Sun scrambled onto the roof, she reached within herself and extended her senses. Adam had trained her as best as he could in its use growing up, but like anything in life, some had a more natural aptitude for it than others. It didn't help that many discredited the idea of Aura altogether. It had certainly sounded like gibberish when Adam had first explained it to her. According to him, it was an extension of one's soul, a manifestation of who they were projected outwards to be used as a shield, and sometimes even as a weapon. He had called it a relic, a part of human and faunus kind alike leftover from days when they had had to scrape their existence out of a world infested with soulless monsters. Now that those days were past, Aura, like so many other things in Remnant, had faded into myth and obscurity, largely written off by the general population.

Blake, however, had seen the true power of somebody trained and skilled in the manipulation of their Aura. She knew what Adam was capable of. It would take more than mere soldiers to bring him to justice.

They huddled on the roof a moment as Blake let her Aura surround her. Even with what training she had, it could be difficult to tell the difference between what her new senses were telling her and what were just the usual feelings of paranoia and distrust.

Sun watched her intently. He didn't truly understand Aura, though she'd tried explaining it to him a couple of times, but he did understand that she had some ability to sense danger around her. "What are you getting?" he asked quietly.

"Something's not right," Blake muttered. It was early, but dawn had already broken over the horizon. Fishermen, sailors and the like all started early, milling about the docks sometimes before sunrise, preparing ships and loading cargo. By this point, the docks should be alive with voices and the sounds of labor.

Instead, silence surrounded her. The docks were empty. Well, not quite empty. Her senses were telling her she was being watched. She didn't know from where, but somebody knew they were there. "We're not alone."

Sun seemed to pick up on her meaning, looking around them for the first time. He reached behind him and under the hem of his perpetually unbuttoned shirt to pull out a collapsible bo staff, forged inexplicably from four pistols. When Blake had first seen the weapon, she had been shocked. She'd known Sun was the rule breaking type, but such a blatant display of weaponry of that caliber just didn't fit. He'd explained that weapons like his were Vacuo's way of getting around the firearm ban. The pistols fired specialized concussion rounds - short ranged bursts of dispersed kinetic energy. Painful, but ultimately nonlethal.

"What do we do?" Sun asked, looking at her.

"We go to the meeting," she said, drawing Gambol Shroud from its sheath. "If this is all for our benefit, it'd be rude not to show up."

Sun smiled, a gleam in his blue eyes. "Ladies first."

The two took off, keeping to the rooftops. They had camped out on the opposite side of the shipyard from where the meeting was going to take place, and Blake was sure she wanted to have eyes on who was there before she stepped into a trap. Coming to Vacuo had been an easy way to assure that she didn't run afoul of any former companions in the White Fang who would recognize her, but it wasn't worth taking the risk that somebody from her past life had ended up on assignment here. Always better safe than sorry.

They slowed their pace as they approached the meeting area. Blake crawled over the crest of the last warehouse roof, her senses on high alert. The warehouse in question was open, the interior completely dark. The door was facing away from the sun, and if it had windows, they'd clearly been boarded up. It was a favorite precaution of the White Fang - faunus were quite adept at seeing in the dark, but humans struggled at the best of times. Perfect home-field advantage.

From what she could see, they were the first ones here. Three white claw marks had been painted onto the side of the warehouse, assuring her at least that they'd found the right place. Now, all that was left to do was wait.

It didn't take long. She felt them before she saw them, two more faunus approaching the warehouse. They were dressed in jeans and heavy boots. The one with a lizard's tail wore a green leather jacket, while the one with boar's tusks wore a sleeveless tank top. Both of them looked tough, but neither looked like White Fang. They were, however, armed, the former with a more daggers than Blake cared to count strapped to him and the latter with a heavy double-bladed axe. They inspected the marking on the side of the warehouse and looked inside.

As they did, Blake felt the presence of two more: a woman with a deer's antlers growing from her forehead and a man with a large pair of bat's ears. If they were armed, it was more subtly so, though Blake could see a bulge in the woman's jacket that indicated one of those concussion pistols. They were approaching the warehouse slowly, heads darting in every direction looking for someone.

"I don't think this is a meeting," Sun said quietly.

"No," Blake agreed, "it's an audition."

That feeling of being watched hadn't left her yet, and now she knew why. They were being hired as security. Whoever was doing the hiring wanted to make sure that they could handle themselves. On the ground, the pair in the warehouse had seemed to come to the same conclusion. She saw the lizard faunus turn and draw a pair of daggers. He hurled them with deadly accuracy at the approaching pair. The antlered girl already had her pistol in her hand and she fired twice, knocking both the approaching projectiles off course. The man with the boar's tusks charged, hefting his axe as he went. The bat-eared faunus met him, flexing his arm as a pair of blades slipped out of the sleeves of his black jacket. Their partners circled the two as they clashed, each looking for an opening to hamper the other party.

"What do we do?" Sun asked.

"We fight," Blake said, her jaw set in determination. She reached into the ammo pouch on her belt and pulled a magazine from it, filled with concussion rounds. She'd had Sun acquire them for her when he'd first mentioned his own weapon used them. She swapped it with the magazine already loaded into Gambol Shroud's hilt. Real rounds were expensive, and besides, she wasn't trying to kill anybody. Not today at least.

"I'll get the girl," she said. With that, she lept off the roof, landing nimbly on her feet. She rushed towards the deer faunus, trying to keep her steps as silent as possible. Still, even with her attention on the fighting pair, a faunus's hearing is nothing to joke about, and she turned when Blake was still a dozen or so strides from striking distance. She saw the pistol come up to face her and Blake reached out with her mind, imagining shadows gathering over her skin, feeling the surge of power as she drew her Aura around her. It wasn't much, but it was enough to pull off a trick or two. She leapt upwards, and as she did, she imagined herself peeling a tiny piece of the humming energy that surrounded her off. In her mind, she shaped that piece with a practiced, easy stroke, forming it into a perfect image of herself. It was paper thin, but there. She sprang off its shoulders, giving herself more height as two shots rang out from the girl's pistol. The shadow clone evaporated in a haze, but it had served its purpose. Blake flipped over once at the apex of her jump, landing easily in front of her opponent. Her sword lashed out once, twice, her strikes precise and calculated. The cuts she left in the girl's exposed forearm were long, but shallow, and enough to force her to drop her weapon. She bent over her arm, clutching it in pain. She didn't even see Blake's kick as it collided with the side of her head, sending her sprawling to the ground.

Blake grabbed the pistol off the ground and hurled it off the edge of the dock and into the dark water beyond it. She took a moment to take stock of the rest of the battle. Sun had apparently taken the lizard faunus off guard. He was lying several yards away from the last point she'd clocked him at, groaning audibly. Sun had then thrown himself at the dueling pair, his staff easily giving him an advantage when it came to reach, but he was forced to fight defensively, constantly checking the more lethal weapons swinging for him. He swiped aside a heavy blow from the axe and turned his momentum into a spinning kick aimed at the bat faunus. He dodged the attack, but it gave Sun enough room to bring his staff down, twirling it above his head with a highly unnecessary flourish before slamming the ground between the two. As he did, he pulled one of the triggers on his staff. There was an enormous bang as the gun went off, the energy dispersing right at shin level, knocking his two opponents to the ground. He kicked away the axe the boar faunus dropped and placed the butt of his staff against the bat faunus's back.

"Don't even think about it buddy," he said as behind him, the lizard faunus got back to his feet.

Blake didn't have time to warn him. She pulled Gambol Shroud's crossguard, folding the blade back over itself and revealing the barrel of the gun. She hurled it at the last remaining opponent, pulling the trigger as she did. The recoil from the shot sent the weapon hurtling towards her target and went sailing over his right shoulder. She grabbed the end of the ribbon before it sailed beyond her reach, and yanked on it hard. The gun went off again and boomeranged back towards the boy, this time coming the other way. The ribbon wrapped around him as he lifted an arm to throw another dagger at Sun.

Blake gave a cry and pulled, reaching out to her Aura once more. She felt strength flood her limbs, and her tug lifted the faunus off his feet, sending him hurtling towards Sun who had now turned his attention towards their last foe. He smirked and aimed a two-handed swing at his head, pulling the trigger right at the moment of impact. The lizard faunus joined the pile of fallen foes, pinning the others with his unconscious form.

Sun glanced back at her, grinning that big stupid grin of his. "That wasn't so hard!"

Blake was about to answer when she heard clapping behind her. She whirled around, pulling the bladed sheath off her back and holding it in a reverse-grip. Approaching the group was a tall woman with a full-faced Grimm mask ornamented with red markings. It was a status symbol, one that denoted her as a ranking member of the White Fang. The two who flanked her wore the more standard, unornamented masks that left their mouths uncovered.

Even without the mask, the woman struck and intimidating figure. She was tall, well over six feet before the heeled boots she wore. She was dressed simply in the outfit standard for the White Fang; dark, tight-fitting garments woven from special metallic fibres meant to better defend against edged weapons with a white armored tunic over it. She had a long sword laid across her back, her red hair spilling over it. Blake couldn't tell at a glance what her faunus lineage was, but that wasn't so uncommon amongst their kind. Even though Blake couldn't see her face, when she spoke, she could tell the woman was smiling.

"Well fought, all of you," she said. Her voice was pitched low and held traces of Menagerie's distinct accent, the one Blake herself had tried so hard to get rid of. One of her men went to go check on the girl, making sure her wounds weren't fatal. Sun moved away from his pile of conquered foes, letting them pull themselves to their feet. "Unfortunately, the White Fang will not need the services of those defeated today. However, your zeal and prowess in combat have been noted, and you are all encouraged to continue seeking ways to help our cause. You will leave us now."

Her voice carried absolute authority, and the others began shuffling away from the warehouse, though not without a fair few dirty glances at Blake and Sun. The antlered girl in particular, clutching her freshly-bandaged arm, looked as though she were ready to go for round two right then and now.

"As for the two of you," she said, turning her attention toward her champions, "follow me." She strode past them and towards the dark interior of the open warehouse. Blake looked at Sun who just shrugged and collapsed his staff, following the woman. Blake collected Gambol Shroud from where the lizard faunus had dropped it on the ground as she pursued them. She noticed the men who had accompanied the tall woman took up positions on either side of the warehouse. Lookouts then, or backup.

The warehouse was still dark enough for a human to have a hard time seeing in it, but the sun had risen high enough that a few stray shafts of light came through the boarded up windows. It was more than they needed to see each other well. The woman perched herself on a wooden crate and assessed the pair.  
"You have good instincts," she said finally. "Sitting back and evaluating the situation, waiting for the others to engage and distract one another before striking, these are the kinds of qualities we are looking for in our security team."

"What can I say? We're the best of the best," Sun said with his usual machismo. Blake resisted the urge to slap him, though it was a close thing. Fortunately, the woman laughed.

"Well, you're certainly the best of my candidates," she agreed, "and that's good enough for what I want." She reached into her tunic and pulled out several sheets of folded paper. She unfolded them carefully and discarded a few sheets. Blake recognized the faces of the faunus they had faced outside. "So, Amber Azalea, is that right?" she said, glancing at Blake, who nodded. "It says here you have something of a criminal record. Spent some time on the Vale Police Department's naughty list. Even did a stint in prison." She looked up at Blake. "What did you do?"

She'd memorized her story earlier, anticipating the question. "I had a disagreement with a human shopkeeper. He attacked me and I defended myself. The police thought that warranted aggravated assault. Somehow the security footage that would have exonerated me was not recovered, and as a result, I spent eight months locked up before they let me go on probation."

The woman nodded in understanding. "Rest assured Miss Azalea, many in the White Fang will have stories like yours. We have all faced discrimination because of what we are. You will find no lack of support among our organization." She turned her attention to Sun. "As for you… Scarlet Ayana is it?" Blake was going to kill him.

"The one and only!" Sun said, beaming.

"You have a spotless record," she mused, glancing over his paperwork. "Martial arts training as well. Competition in some minor tournaments… tell me, what is it that makes you want to join the White Fang?"

Blake knew she should have helped Sun come up with his new profile. She braced herself for a disaster.

"Well, it was when I met Amber," Sun said, looking at her. Blake looked back at him, masking her bewilderment as best she could. "We met when she got out. They'd fired her from her job, and nobody was willing to hire somebody with a violent record. She was alone and hurt, and I couldn't just stand by and watch that." He took her hand then and Blake felt the heat rise in her cheeks. What the hell was he doing?

"I realized, I've been really lucky," Sun said, turning his attention back to the woman in front of them. "I didn't have to go through all the bullshit she'd been through. But that doesn't mean I should just look the other way and hope I keep getting lucky. Not when I could be making a difference." He squeezed her hand. "Besides," he added with his usual smile, "she's not the kind of girl you just leave in her time of need."

 _No, I'm much better at doing the leaving_ , Blake thought to herself.

When she finally managed to tear her eyes away from Sun, she saw that the woman was nodding solemnly. "You two are lucky to have each other," she said. "The road has been long and hard, and sometimes we have to walk it alone. But hopefully, you two will never have to worry about that again." She pulled a smaller scrap of paper out of some hidden pocket and passed it to Blake. She let go of Sun's hand to take it. "That's the address for the job. You have a few weeks to get there, but I wouldn't dawdle. You'll have a member of the White Fang as your supervisor, helping you with the work and keeping tabs on you. Her report will determine your future with our organization, but something tells me that that future is bright."

"Thank you," Blake said. "Is there anything else you can tell us about the job? All we've been told so far is that it's security work."

The woman seemed to consider that for a moment. "Like any organization, the White Fang needs money to survive. Lien pays for labor, supplies, weapons, anything we need. As you're probably aware, we recently staged a rather large-scale operation." Blake clamped down hard to suppress the memories of Beacon as they flashed through her mind. "We had a financial backer who helped, but the lion's share of our operational costs came directly from our coffers. We need to replenish."

"So, it's some kind of fundraiser?" Sun asked.

The woman laughed. "Something like that. As you can imagine, most traditional avenues for gathering revenue are closed to us. But there are less reputable ways of earning money. We've organized an underground fighting tournament to be held in Vacuo City, one of the largest in recent memory. Skilled opponents, a steep buy-in to participate, and live weapons allowed - within reason, of course."

"Of course," Blake said, considering the proposal. It sure would make a lot of money very quickly. Tournaments like that were hugely popular in the anarchic-leaning city of Vacuo. Most of the other major cities were too tightly controlled by the government to get away with something of that scale, pushing those who truly wanted to try their strength out to the western world. "I'm guessing you've taken steps as well to make sure that the White Fang's name stays out of the mix?"

"Correct," the woman answered. "It's one of the reasons we're reaching outside the organization to hire security. Easier to distance ourselves from the event."

"So, what's the money for?" Sun asked.

Another pause. "I like you two," the woman said. "Like I said, I think you will both do well with the White Fang. But that doesn't mean I can go around telling you everything right now. You know enough, more than enough in fact, to do your job. Do it well, and we'll see where things go."

She stood, and Blake understood them to be dismissed. "Come on Scarlet," she said, taking his hand. He'd played the card, for better or worse, she might as well try to back him up. There was a boat sitting in the water when the emerged into the morning sunlight, two more White Fang members standing on the deck. No doubt the lieutenant's ride waiting to take her back to safety. Blake had toyed with the notion of following her to see if there was any more information she could glean, but the boat killed any hope of that.

Besides, it had worked, hadn't it? They were in. Now they just had to figure out how to get to Vacuo City. The continent of Sanus was mostly desert, and not terribly friendly to travelers. And that was if you didn't count the locals, many of whom seemed to still idolize the days before the Last War. Back then, Vacuo had been dominated by nomadic tribes who operated on their own sets of loose codes, rather than the comparatively draconian laws of their formal government.

As they left the docks, Blake noticed a sign that mentioned temporary maintenance, and two burly looking faunus men standing guard on either side. There was a gathered crowd of sailors and shipwrights gathered, looking at them as they emerged. One of the faunus said something about how the repairs must be finished, and removed the sign. Blake and Sun stood clear as the men and women returned to work, some of them glancing uneasily at the pair. Feeling uncomfortable, and more than a little exposed, Blake dragged Sun away from the docks and through the main town, allowing themselves to get lost in the crowd.

Only when she felt like they were a safe distance away, did she let go of his hand and slap him in the back of the head. "What the hell was all that back there?" she growled through gritted teeth, her ears laying flat against her head.

"Woah, okay, _ow_! I was just giving them a convincing back story! Weren't you the one who said the best lies have truth at the heart of them?"

Blake grudgingly had to agree. It was one of the first things they'd had to cover when she figured out, for all his street smarts, Sun was actually a pretty terrible liar.

"Well, there you go." There was an awkward pause. They were wandering through the streets of the port town, past shops they couldn't afford to buy anything from, moving aimlessly. They'd spent more than a few days like that, just trying to stay inconspicuous, to learn as much news as they could. It would be nice to finally get away, to be on the move again. But even the prospect of trying to figure out how to get to Vacuo City wasn't going to avoid the inevitable. It had been building all summer.

As if he could read her mind, Sun cleared his throat. He took her arm gently, stopping them on a mostly abandoned street corner. She turned so her body was facing him, but she could only manage to stare at the sidewalk.

"Blake, this is dumb, okay? I mean, come on, you're a smart girl. I know you know how I feel about you. And if you know, that means that you don't feel the same way, or you would have said something by now. I hope. Seriously, if I'm wrong, let's clear that up now before I make myself look like an even bigger idiot than usual."

Blake sighed. "You're not wrong," she said, her voice small. She glanced up at his face. He was smiling, how was he smiling?

"I figured as much. That's cool, I get it, the heart wants what the heart wants or whatever. That doesn't change the fact that I'm your friend, or the fact that you need somebody around to watch your back. You've been carrying some pretty heavy shit around this summer. If there's anything I can do to make it easier, then I want to help."

Blake felt her eyes tear up. What did she do to deserve a friend like Sun? What did she do to deserve any of her friends? She was a liar, a thief, and worse. She'd done so many terrible things. She deserved to be alone.

"All the people close to me end up hurt, Sun," she said, her left arm unconsciously drifting to grip her right.

Sun didn't miss the gesture. "You mean what happened to Yang? Blake, that wasn't your fault-"

"Yes it was!" she cried. She turned, pacing away from him, unable to be near him any more. She'd spent too long running from the truth. "She was trying to protect me. From him."

" _I should have known I'd find you in a library." He'd been waiting for her when she'd run outside, the building behind her engulfed in flames. The red light highlighted the red embroidery on his otherwise entirely black outfit. The corners of his mouth were turned up in a victorious smile. "Hello my darling."_

" _What are you doing here?" she'd said, her voice weak, her legs trembling. She was living a nightmare._

" _I've come to take you back home, to bring you back where you belong, my love. By my side, watching the fires of revolution spread across all of Remnant, just the way we always wanted them to."_

" _I didn't want this!" she cried, pleading, gesturing to the raging inferno behind her. "I wanted equality! I wanted peace!"_

 _He gripped his sword, a straight-edged chokutō in its sheath, more tightly. "What you want is impossible." He strode towards her, the firelight reflecting off the half mask he wore and the horns in his dark red hair. He reached out a hand-_

 _Blake moved, pulling her Aura around her, filling it with defiance and fear. His hand passed through her shadow clone and she lashed out, the heel of her boot smashing into his knee. He stumbled, but stayed upright, his teeth bared. When she came again, his free arm came up, blocking a blow meant for his jaw. A pulse of burning red energy washed over him, almost invisible in the firelight. He aimed a kick at her stomach in retaliation, but there was another clone in its place before he could connect, and used his momentum against him, slamming her shoulder into his chest and forcing him back towards the burning building._

 _He gave ground easily, far too easily considering he was armed and she was not. But Blake hadn't thought about that at the time. All she could think of was pulling him into the roaring fires, of ending the monster he had become. The beast that wore the skin of her oldest friend and mentor. She let fury enflame her aura, pulling speed and power she never knew she had to aid her as he rolled out of her grip and she pressed her attack. She hit him again and again, most of the blows landing harmlessly, even those that managed to slip past his defenses or the hilt of the sword he still had yet to unsheath. Each hit sent another pulsing wave of red energy across him. Eventually his back was against one of the broken library windows. She could feel the heat of the flames against her cheek. She lunged for him one more time._

 _He sidestepped her, a grin on his face, reversing his grip on the sword, the hilt of it pointed at her back. He pulled the trigger concealed on the sheath and the blade shot forward with a bang. It hit her square in the back and, combined with her own momentum, carried her over the edge of the window, winding herself as she hit the floor. She lay there on the ground as the inferno raged around her. The heat from the flames was intense, and immediately she felt the effect it had on her as her Aura fought to protect her from the worst of it._

 _He followed her into the building, collecting and sheathing his sword as he went. He knelt beside her._

" _I had truly hoped you would come to your senses my love," he said. "This could have been our day, together."_

" _You're a monster," she'd said, trying to sit up. His hand lashed out, knocking her back to the floor. His strength was incredible and the room spun as she felt her own strength fail. He'd been toying with her until now, she realized. He had made her think she actually stood a chance._

" _I am what the world has made me, what these miserable humans have_ forced _me to be. Now they've taken you from me as well." She opened her mouth to speak and his hand closed around her throat, her protests cut short. "You want so badly to be a part of their world? You love being their pet so much? Fine. I'm done trying to save you, Blake. From this day forward, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."_

" _Blake!" a girl's voice rang out across the campus. She knew that voice "Blake, where are you?" Please, let it be anybody else. Blake's eyes widened in terror, she grabbed Adam's arm, trying desperately to pry him off her.  
One look at her face was all it took. "Starting with her," he growled, releasing her and pushing himself to his feet. He grabbed Blake by the hair and dragged her outside. She gritted her teeth, but refused to make a sound, refused to draw attention to where they were. He dropped her at his feet. "Call her," he said. Blake wouldn't. She would never. She'd die before she let him hurt-_

 _His sword flashed bloodred in the firelight. She felt it shatter what was left of her aura as he plunged it into her stomach. Pain lanced through her, and she screamed in agony. Her vision went white as he drew the blade back, the pain nearly unbearable. As her vision cleared, she saw a familiar mane of blonde hair emerge from behind one of the buildings nearest to them. Yang took seconds to evaluate the scene, seeing him standing over Blake, blood pooling around her and dripping from the blade.  
"Blake?"  
She rushed forward, stumbling as she ran, but before she reached Blake's side, Adam stepped between them, sheathing his sword. Yang stopped, staring at him, fury igniting lilac eyes, turning them a burning red._

" _Get away from her," Yang said, her voice trembling with fear and fury. Adam simply smiled at her.  
"No, please," Blake tried to say, but her voice was so weak. Not her, anybody but her. _

_Yang lunged at Adam, shouting as she drove her fist at his jaw. Time seemed to stand still. There was a flash of red light, and Adam moved faster than could be seen. One moment, he was standing, still and calm, directly in the line of Yang's attack. The next, he was beside her, naked steel in his hand. Yang stumbled and went to her knees, staring at where her right arm used to be. It ended in a stump and her blood was spilling onto the ground. From where she was lying, Blake could see confusion in her eyes. Her brain hadn't even registered the pain yet. That would come later. She collapsed, unmoving. Adam stalked towards her with cold purpose._

 _Then Blake was between them. She couldn't have said where the strength to even crawl had come from, but it was there. A sliver of her Aura, ignited in an instant. If he was going to kill Yang, he'd have to kill her too._

 _Adam seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Why must you hurt me, Blake?" He said, raising his sword._

 _There was a noise, and bright searchlights flared up all around them, their cones sweeping the entire campus. Adam looked up, assessing them, and Blake moved. She peeled the last of her Aura from herself, shaping it, molding it into not only herself, but Yang too. The image flickered in the firelight, more transparent than usual, but it was enough. She felt it shove her away as she dragged Yang's remaining arm over her shoulder, stumbling away from Adam, moving as fast as she could. Her vision was growing hazy, she could barely remain upright, but she had to keep moving. She had to…_

"That's when you found us." She and Sun were sitting with their backs against a brick building. The shop across the street from them had opened, and a few people were beginning to trickle into this part of town. "The threat of a whole army bearing down on him probably forced Adam to back off. Either that, or something else caught his attention. I don't know for sure why he didn't follow us, all I know is, we both should have been dead." She'd told her story without all the color that was still vivid in her memory, but she could tell that Sun got the point. He leaned his head against the wall.

"I'm so sorry Blake," he said after a long moment. "I didn't know."

"Nobody does," Blake said.

"So, you and him were…" he didn't seem to know what to say.

"It's complicated," Blake said. "I knew him for so long. We were close, but-" _but he abused that closeness. He thought he could own me. He thought he could make me something I'm not._

"It's okay," Sun said. "You don't have to get into it. Like you said before, he's a bad guy. That's all I need to know. " She was grateful to him for that.

"That's why I had to leave," she said. "As long as I was still in Vale, still near my friends, they were all in danger. I couldn't do that to them."

"You know they wouldn't care-"

"Of course they wouldn't!" Blake said, frustration forcing her to her feet, pacing across the sidewalk once more. "You think that I don't know that! They would have insisted on helping, they would have insisted on doing everything in their power to try to protect me. Then Adam would have killed them, one by one, just to hurt me. Just to prove to me that he _could_." She stopped, her back to sun, arms wrapped around herself tightly.

"Okay," Sun said. "I get it. I don't know that I agree with you, but I get it." She turned to face him. He was back on his feet, arms resting behind his head. "So we keep going with your plan. Hiding in plain sight, right where he'll never look. And when he least expects it, we pay him back for everything he did and then some. He's got to slip up eventually, right?"

Blake wasn't sure she shared his optimism. She didn't think she had managed to convey just how much of a threat Adam posed to anybody who stood in his way. But he was a world away right now, and it would just be easier to agree.

Besides, if they crossed paths again, she wasn't planning on letting anybody stand between her and Adam. Nobody else would be hurt because of her.

She took a deep breath. "So, you're the native. How do you suggest we get to Vacuo City?"

Sun grinned. Blake was reminded at that moment the reasons she liked Sun. She shouldn't be, but for a fleeting second, she was glad he was there.

"Ever hop a train before?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh man, this one was a lot of fun to write. You know, in a "man I'm a bad person and I enjoy torturing my characters" sort of way. Brief apology to Eclipse/Black Sun shippers, but if you managed to get this far and somehow _didn't_ think this was going to be a Bumblebee story, I encourage you to evaluate a few things about your critical reading ability.

So yeah, first confirmed character sexuality in my story. Fun fact, this whole ridiculous project started out as a Bumblebee angst fic idea that was going to be maybe three or four chapters. Then I made a whole fleshed out timeline and started piling in characters by mistake. Oops. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, please leave a review if you have any feedback/comments/critiques/personal attacks, what have you. Cheers.


	5. Chapter 5: Winter's Plea

**Chapter 5: Winter's Plea**

"Come on! I know you can go faster than that! Move it! Hustle people, lift those knees! I swear to the gods if I have to come back there and physically push you, I will!" From the front of the column, Arslan bellowed back at the panting troupe of girls behind her. Ruby was managing to keep pace with the older girl, but only barely. They'd been running for nearly twenty minutes now, following a winding trail through and around the outskirts of campus. Ruby had gone on runs that lasted longer, certainly, but always alone when she could change up her pace or jog for a bit to catch her breath. Arslan would have no such thing in her training sessions.

They crested a hill and Ruby could see the track come into view. It wouldn't be too long now. Beside her, a girl with green hair, shaved short in the back but worn long in the front, winked at her. "Home stretch kid," she said, winded, but obviously enjoying herself. Her name was Reese, and she was Arslan's partner, the same way Weiss had been hers back at Beacon. Ruby supposed that keeping up had become something of a survival instinct for her.

When they finally made it to the track, Arslan slowed them to a jog, then a walk, before leading the team through a cool down. When they were done stretching, Ruby turned to leave. Reese caught her arm as she went past. "Hey, where are you off to?"

"Um, back to my dorm," Ruby said. She still felt a little awkward around the track team, despite having joined a week ago.

"Why don't you come hang with us? Some of the team were going to go get a few drinks in town, we'd love to have you around."

"She's not eighteen Reese, remember?" Arslan said from behind them. Ruby hadn't heard her approach. "But that doesn't mean we can't have Bolin or Nadir pick something up and bring it back to the dorms," she added with a sly smile. "What do you say kid?"

Ruby liked Arslan and Reese. When she started training with them, they'd gone out of their way to make her feel included, even introducing her to the other members of their group. Part of her thought it would be a good idea to spend time with them. Maybe make some new friends, to integrate herself better in the school. But whenever she tried imagining it, she just thought of how much more distance it put between herself and Beacon. She started thinking about her own friends, and how much she missed them. Her old life had already started to seem very far away.

"Maybe next time," Ruby said with an attempt at a smile. Arslan didn't seem convinced.

"Has everything been okay?" she asked, that maternal look of concern Ruby noticed when they'd first met creeping over her face again. "You missed practice yesterday, and you seemed pretty tired today. Anything you need to talk about?"

Ruby looked away. The truth was, she hadn't been sleeping well. Ever since she'd gotten in touch with her uncle Qrow two weeks ago, the nightmares had come back, worse than ever. Each night it was something different, but Qrow was in all of them, holding that terrible scythe. She had watched Pyrrha die again and again, the light fading from her green eyes. She had stood silently screaming while Beacon University collapsed around her. She'd seen soldiers and White Fang members alike gunning each other down, turning the campus into a war zone. Each nightmare left her shaking and crying, feeling as drained as though she hadn't bothered sleeping at all.

Part of Ruby desperately wanted to take Arslan up on her offer, but what was she supposed to do? Unload everything she felt on people who were practically strangers? She didn't even feel like she could talk about it with her own friends. Jaune, Ren and Nora had lived it just as much as she had, and making them worry about her wasn't going to help them move on with their lives. Ruby had sent a message back to Weiss after she'd talked to Qrow, but after the surprise request, things from Atlas had gone back to radio silence.

That only really left her father, Taiyang, and even he was beyond her reach right now. He was usually really good at this kind of thing. Ruby thought maybe some of it came from harbored guilt about how he had been when they were younger. After her mom had died, he'd kind of shut down for a while. Yang had taken care of her more often than not, and Qrow's visits were most frequent then. He'd come around eventually, but the attack on Beacon and Yang's injury had made things pretty messy in the household for a while over the summer. He'd born the brunt of a lot of Yang's anger and frustration, and Ruby thought he might blame himself for her leaving. It was probably why he'd sent her a message a few days after classes started saying he was going to try and find her and bring her home.

Ruby refused to be a burden. She had to deal with this herself. She would prove that she could be just as strong as anyone.

"Thanks Arslan, I really appreciate it, but I'm fine," she said. "It's just been a lot to get used to, that's all. I promise when I get a little more organized, we'll hang out, okay?"

Arslan frowned, but she didn't push the issue. "Alright. Take care, kid."

Ruby waved and headed back across campus. It was Friday, which was nice. It would give her some time to actually work on some of the homework that had been piling up around her. Ruby, much to the surprise of anybody who didn't know her well, was a mechanical engineering major. That meant a lot of tough classes, and for the first time ever, she was beginning to feel like she was struggling to keep up.

The dorm was empty when she walked in, which meant there was nobody around to tell her not to hog all the hot water. Her muscles ached, and she planned on taking her time. Who knew, between the workout and four pages of differential calculus problems, maybe she would actually finally be able to get some sleep that night. She was still in the shower, thanking whatever gods may be that hers had decent water pressure, when she heard her scroll vibrate on the bathroom counter. She poked her head out and craned her neck to get a good look at the screen. She had a text message.

From Qrow.

She shut off the water and wrapped a towel around herself, snatching the scroll of the counter. If he was texting her, that meant he was nearby. Sure enough, the message was curt and simple. _"I'm downstairs. Got a sec?"_ Ruby felt her heart hammering somewhere in her throat. Seeing him on the video call had been enough. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him in person. She was still staring at the screen, studying her own indecisive reflection when another message popped up.

" _I won't keep you long."_

Ruby bit her lip. He was still the same man he'd been before, wasn't he? Just because he could do...whatever it is he had done didn't change the way he'd treated her when she was younger. It didn't take back all the stories he'd told her, or all the times he'd taken her to see the wonderful and beautiful places in Vale or her island home of Patch. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then dressed, opting for her own clothes instead of the Haven school uniform, which she had never been a fan of. Whoever decided that black and grey plaid was a good idea for a skirt design deserved to be fired. She went with her usual black and red skirt-and-corset with knee-high black boots over a pair of black leggings. She fastened her hood on over the whole thing and headed downstairs.

He was waiting maybe a dozen yards from the dorm entrance, leaning against a tree. He struck a fairly imposing figure there, tall and lean, wearing shades of black and grey. A silver cross hung at an angle from the cord around his neck, and he had a tattered red cape draped over his shoulders that reached his waist. His hair was black and unkempt, long bangs partially obscuring his red eyes. Across his back, beneath the cape, he wore an enormous single-edged greatsword. The blade of the weapon was filigreed with an intricate pattern that ended in a flourish not unlike a bird's wing. The base of the blade, where it met the red leather-wrapped hilt, featured an interlocking set of gears. Ruby knew that this wasn't the only form his weapon could take. She'd seen it in its scythe form, huge and menacing. Part of her was fascinated by the mechanisms and machinery that must have been involved in transforming it from one form to the other. Most of her could only stare at it and wonder how many people her uncle must have killed with it.

He was studying something as she approached. It looked almost like a scroll, but colored black and with some odd wires wrapped around it and plugged into several ports. A long antenna was attached to the top, and rather than a reflective glass screen, there was just a dull black diamond set in the middle of it.

Qrow must have heard her coming. He looked up at her and smiled. It wasn't a broad smile, but it was warm and genuine. It was the same smile he had always greeted her with back home in Patch. "Hey kiddo," he said, the familiar rasp in his voice.

"Hey Uncle Qrow." Her voice sounded small, even to Ruby. Despite her earlier trepidation, she couldn't deny it was good to see him. Maybe it was just the fact that she had been without a familial face for so long, but it was easier to see him here as her uncle, rather than the ominous symbol he'd become in her fevered nightmares. She allowed herself to relax slightly. "Did you miss me?"

Qrow's smile widened just a fraction. "Nope," he said playing their old game.

Despite herself, Ruby darted forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, careful to avoid the sharp steel of his sword. He seemed caught off guard by the affection, but he returned the hug. They stayed like that a moment, Ruby letting herself feel like a child again, safe in the knowledge that adults could fix anything, no matter what the problem might be.

"Gotta be honest, I didn't think I'd get this warm a welcome," Qrow said. Ruby pulled away slightly, craning her neck to look up at him. The top of her head came almost level with his chin, so this was something of a challenge.

"It's just… good to see you," she said, surprised by the truth in her words. "It's been kind of rough these last few months."

"I bet," he said. He drew away from her, lounging once more against the trunk of the tree. "I wanted to check on you. See how you were holding up."

Ruby shrugged. "I… I'm fine. You know. Mostly."

"Uh huh. Sure you are."

She looked away sheepishly. "Well, I mean, I've had a little trouble sleeping."

He nodded. "I'm not surprised. The things you had to go through, what you had to see… it's something I wish I could have protected you from."

Ruby scuffed her boots on the ground. "You did protect me," she murmured, surprising herself again.

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out. You get to see your uncle for what he really is for the first time. I'm pretty good at reading people, kiddo. Stay in my line of work, you have to be. I know what fear looks like. You think I didn't notice it when you called me?" He pulled a flask out of his back pocket and took a pull from it. "I expected a lot more of an interrogation session when I got here. Don't know if I should take this as a good sign or not."

Ruby shifted uncomfortably, suddenly becoming very interested in the way the roots of the tree twisted and knotted above the ground. "I… I do have a few… I mean, there's a lot I still don't really, um, understand."

She glanced up at him. He was studying her, the lines in his face more pronounced than ever. Ruby noticed there were dark circles under his eyes. Seeing the sorrow in them, hearing the worn out regret in his tone, suddenly she felt the need to comfort him. After months of being frightened of him, seeing him now she could only think that he seemed… old. And very sad.

"Let's hear it then," he said.

Ruby thought for a moment. "You killed those men." she said.

Qrow didn't flinch. "Yeah. And I would have killed a hundred more if it meant keeping you safe."

"What about Pyrrha?" The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them. It was a childish thought, but one that had haunted her ever since that night. "If you could do what you did, then why did she…" Ruby couldn't bring herself to finish. She already felt tears welling in her eyes.

Qrow sighed. "I'm not a miracle worker, kiddo. It took me a while to find you. If I could have gotten there sooner, I would have." He paused, seemingly considering his next words before speaking. "If she hadn't been there, I wouldn't have made it to you. Those bastards would have gotten you first. You and everybody with you. Your friend saved a dozen lives, more if you count how many people wouldn't have been evacuated if they'd held the docks much longer."

Ruby hadn't thought about it like that before. She wasn't sure if the thought made her feel better or just piled onto the already incredibly guilt that felt like it was ready to crush her into nothing. Unwilling to think about it anymore, she tried, changing the subject. "What is it you do exactly?" Qrow raised an eyebrow. "You said, 'your line of work.' What work is it that teaches you to use… that," she indicated the sword on his back. "Or to move that fast, or to stop bullets."

Qrow took another swig from his flask. "It's kind of a long story," he said.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Well, I _was_ going out on a bar crawl, but I guess I can put that off for another couple of years."

Qrow let out a bark of laughter. "Anyone ever tell you you got Summer's sense of humor?" Ruby decided to take the comparison as a compliment. It wasn't an unfamiliar one - anybody who had known her mother liked to compare them whenever possible. "Fine, walk with me. I have to make a stop at the CCT." He detached himself from the tree and started walking along the worn dirt path that followed the edge of campus. Ruby followed at a quicker pace, her shorter legs working harder to keep up with his strides.

"The first thing you need to know," he started, "is that attacks like the one Beacon suffered are fairly rare. This is the first time something of this scale has happened, I'd wager, since the later days of the Last War. There's a reason for that, and it's not just because everybody's scared we'll blow each other off the face of the planet if a conflict like that ever happens again. As part of the accords that ended the war, each nation was required to found its own small organization of uniquely skilled individuals. These individuals would be hand selected, the best of the best that each nation had to offer, by the heads of these new organizations. They'd be given access to top-secret information, specialized training and the authority to ensure that nobody was above the laws set in place by the accords. It's all there buried in the paperwork if you can stomach all the legal jargon."

Ruby stared at the ground in front of her, trying to process the new information. "So, that's what you do? You're a part of one of those organizations?"

Qrow nodded. "It was decided that the best places to keep an eye out for likely recruits were the most prestigious academies in Remnant. Old Oz picked me out my first year at Beacon University."

"Professor Ozpin?" Ruby stared up at her uncle, convinced she hadn't heard him right. Professor Ozpin was Beacon's headmaster. She'd first met him over a year ago, when he'd insisted on meeting with her. When she was at Signal High, she had been involved in mocking up designs for a theoretical Dust-based engine nearly twice as efficient as the ones currently in circulation. Even though, as Ruby had tried to point out, several missing components from the blueprints didn't exist yet, the project had garnered a lot of acclaim, and drawn the attention of a lot of people, Ozpin included. That and her athletic proficiency had earned her a spot at Beacon University two years ahead of the rest of her classmates.

She remembered Ozpin as an odd man, the kind who seemed like he was always looking through you instead of at you, but he had been kind nonetheless. A little on the melodramatic side perhaps, but this… this just didn't add up. "You're telling me that _Professor Ozpin_ is some sort of secret shadowy government-type person?"

"Trust me, it becomes way easier to believe the more you get to know him," Qrow said wryly. "All the heads of the academies run their organizations on the side. Shade Academy in Vacuo calls their members Shadows out of a complete lack of originality. Here in Haven they're called Mystics which is only a little better. Ironwood, apparently convinced he wasn't sending the right message when he accepted the role of both headmaster _and_ commander of Atlas' military, went with Specialists."

"What about Ozpin? What does he call his group?"

Qrow smirked. "Oz has always had a healthy respect for the past. He claims that there was once a time when we relied on guardians to keep our world safe, and out of respect for them, he's keeping the good name alive. We're Huntsmen. And Huntresses," he added, seemingly as an afterthought.

Ruby felt a chill go up her spine. She was familiar with the stories. Qrow had told her most of them. They were the men and women who stood against the creatures of Grimm, back in the earliest days of mankind. Trained in deadly combat and armed with the elemental powers Dust, they'd carved the first kingdoms of Remnant out of a hostile world. These kingdoms went on to become the four great nations that existed today.

"So… you're telling me you're a… a Huntsman?" Ruby stared at the sword again her eyes wide with a mix of awe and fear.

"That's right, kiddo," Qrow said. "Gotta hit pause on storytime now, we're here."

Ruby looked up and saw the CCT tower looming in front of them. There were a few students milling around, as well as a few soldiers in their battle armor. Most of them carried automatic rifles, though a few had sidearms strapped to their hips and long stun batons in their hands. Soldiers had been posted at all of the Cross Continental Transmit towers after Beacon's had fallen. Losing another one was considered unacceptable by the authorities in Remnant, and for good reason. They risked losing even the local communication available to the world now if they fell.

As they entered the lobby, Ruby heard a buzzing sound. Qrow pulled the black device she'd seen earlier out of his pocket. The jewel-like thing in the middle was pulsing with a steady blue light. "Right on time," Qrow muttered to himself as they stepped onto one of the elevators that lined the first floor.

"Top floor," Qrow said to the small room.

"Authorization required for top floor access," a cool metallic voice answered. "Please place your scroll on the terminal to confirm authorization." He did so. There was a flash of light as his device was scanned. "Authorization granted. Welcome Mr. Branwen."

Qrow grunted and pocketed his scroll. Ruby fidgeted nervously beside him. Dozens of questions kept running through her head, but she didn't feel like now was the time to ask any of them. Qrow had a look of quiet concentration on his face, as if he was steeling himself for something. It reminded her too much of how he'd been at Beacon.

After an uncomfortably long ride in silence, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. They were in a large, circular room with a green tiled floor. There was a strange cylindrical device as wide as Ruby was tall that sat in the perfect center of the room from floor to ceiling. It seemed to be made of dark glass, with wires and machinery intricately laid out within. Green light pulsed up its length in a steady rhythm, always from floor to ceiling. All around them, the walls were replaced with windows, granting a breathtaking view of campus, the town of Haven beyond, and the landscape beyond even that.

Qrow made his way around the cylinder and Ruby hurried to keep up. On the far side, away from the elevator, was a console with a screen sitting against the strange glass contraption. A single chair and desk were present as well. The console had the kind of slot you would insert a scroll into. Qrow looked at his black device again, the light still pulsing blue. He sat in the chair without looking away from it.

"Um, what is that?" Ruby finally found the courage to ask.

His eyes never left the light. "Some sort of Atlas tech," he muttered. "Apparently it can be used to boost the CCT tower's range, allowing for cross-continental communication if one's being used on both ends, even with Beacon's tower down."

Ruby furrowed her brow. "That would take a lot of power, right?" It didn't seem like even two of those small devices would have enough juice to output that kind of energy.

"Yup," Qrow said. "It's not perfect. Apparently it pulls power from the tower itself, overclocks everything. Longer we use it, better chance we have of blowing the fuse and shutting down the whole place for a day or two."

"Oh," Ruby said.

Her uncle looked up at her, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Don't worry kid, the person on the other end isn't going to want to draw this out too long." Before Ruby could ask what he meant, the light in the middle of his device turned green and stopped pulsing. "Showtime," he said, placing the device into the slot in front of him.

The monitor in front of them burst into static, and the frequency of the green light running up the cylinder doubled, creating a strobe-like effect. The lights overhead dimmed before returning to their former brightness.

For a moment, Ruby thought that was it. Then she heard something through the crackle of the static on the monitor. It was faint at first, but getting louder. Slowly the image resolved itself. When it cleared, Ruby thought for a startling moment that they'd called Weiss. The woman on screen certainly looked like her partner, with eyes the precise same shade of icy blue and pure white hair. Instead of worn long in an asymmetrical ponytail, however, it was kept high and tight, twisted into a severe looking bun. She was older than Weiss as well, her face harder somehow. Ruby recognized the woman from their brief meeting during the Vytal Festival last year: Weiss' sister, Winter.

"Qrow, can you hear me?" The static buzz had dimmed enough that she was intelligible now.

"Loud and clear," he answered, retrieving his flask from his pocket and taking a long pull from it.

Winter's jaw clenched in obvious frustration, her cheeks turning pink. "Are you drinking Qrow? This is important, goddammit, I was hoping you would take it a little more seriously!"

"Oh, I figured it was important when you sent me a toy that could blow the CCT by accident. Nice coordinates by the way, the drop zone was in the middle of nowhere."

"That was the point you insufferable-" she stopped herself and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, we do not have a lot of time, and I need your help."

"Got it. Business, not pleasure" Qrow said with an easy smile and a wink. To Ruby's horror, she saw Winter's face flush a deep shade of crimson.

Fortunately for the young girl, Winter decided to otherwise ignore the jab. "I have been conducting an investigation for General Ironwood. I'm looking into-"

Qrow interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, the dust used in the bombs. Let me take a wild guess at where the discrepancies came from."

Winter looked away from the camera, shame marring her features. "I did not want to believe it at first."

"Which is why it was stupid of Ironwood to give you the assignment." Ruby got the sense that Qrow had made this argument before, though she barely understood herself what exactly he was arguing.

Winter let out a sigh. "Maybe it was. But that is not what is important right now. I need to get my hands on my father's documents discreetly. If I bring this accusation to the Atlas Council, they will launch a full investigation. The company will suffer, possibly even be broken up, and without the SDC, Atlas could face the biggest energy crisis in its history."

Qrow considered that a moment. "Energy crisis is maybe a tad strong," he said, "but there would certainly be an adjustment period. Dust prices would skyrocket, scarcity would go up at least a temporarily. It would create a decent opening for somebody with less than respectable intentions to make a move. Probably why the SDC was targeted in the first place." He grinned. "You always manage to surprise me Ice Queen. Alright, you have my attention. What do you propose we do?"

Ruby couldn't read Winter's expression. Her face had become a mask. "My sister has access to the documentation we need." Ruby's heart skipped at the mention of Weiss, but she fought the urge to ask about her. "Unfortunately, there is no way for her to get it without her involvement being obvious."  
Qrow raised an eyebrow. "So you need an extraction. From the Schnee Estate."

"Not only the Schnee Estate, but the Schnee Estate with triple the usual security measures."

Qrow let out a low whistle. "Only one person I know who can do that."

"I know." Winter's mask never faltered.

"You got a window in mind? Even she's not a miracle worker."

"As a matter of fact, I do. Father is holding a banquet for members of the Atlas Council. He's trying to convince them to lift the Dust embargo that is keeping him from exporting goods to the other nations."

"Security will be focused on keeping the council members safe, might not be looking too closely other places," Qrow mused. "That's smart. How long do we have?"

"A little over a month."

Qrow took a longer pull from the flask. "A month? A month to track her down and get to Atlas? Are you crazy?"

Winter rolled her eyes. "You act like I am not willing to help you. The device you have can broadcast coordinates. Once you find her, send me your location. I will have my airship come and collect you."

Qrow looked uncertain. "I don't think you understand how badly she doesn't want to be found."

"Please, Qrow." The mask slipped a little. Beneath it, Winter looked tired. She looked sad too. "Please. I need your help. I don't have anywhere else to go." The lights in the room started to flicker again, and Ruby realized the light running up the cylinder was starting to slow.

"You don't have a lot of time either," the older man mused. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll send you the coordinates when we're ready for a pick up."

Winter's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you Qrow."

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Now you better get going before you manage to blow the Atlas tower."

Winter looked for a moment like she was going to say something. She opened her mouth slightly, before closing it and nodding sharply. "Be careful," she said.

Qrow smirked. "Why start now?" With that, Qrow removed the device from the port in front of him. The lights returned to normal, and the cylinder resumed its usual, steady pulse.

Qrow pushed himself away from the console and stood, pocketing the strange device. "Well, I knew it was going to be something interesting. Definitely wasn't wrong about that." He turned to leave the room, only stopping outside the elevator when he noticed he wasn't being followed. He glanced back over his shoulder. "Ruby? You coming?"

Ruby was standing still, staring at the screen. She hadn't moved since Winter had laid out her plan. She felt cold all over and her chest was tight. Qrow noticed something was wrong. He moved to stand beside her, putting his hand on her arm. "Hey, you okay kiddo?"

Ruby pulled away from his hand, whirling to face him. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but there was anger in them as well. "You two are putting Weiss in danger." It wasn't a question. "This is about the attack, right? Winter wants to know things about the White Fang, and she's having Weiss get the information?"

Qrow sighed. "Look, Ruby, I know this is hard for you-"

"No!" Ruby said, stomping her foot. "No! No, no, no, you can't!" An image rose, unbidden to Ruby's mind. Weiss held between two men, a third training his gun on her. Blood everywhere, begging Ruby to run as the gunshot rang out. " _Please_ , you can't!" Tears blurred her vision as they trailed down her cheeks. She was shaking.

Qrow knelt and took Ruby's hands in his. They were rough and calloused, but gentle. She didn't pull away, she just stood there, staring down at the man she'd once idolized. "Please… I can't lose her too," she said, her voice breaking.

"Look, kiddo, I know this is hard for you, but I know Winter. She wouldn't be putting her own sister in a position like this unless it was absolutely necessary. There are things right now bigger than us happening, and if we don't do something about it, more people are going to die."

"I don't care about them!" Ruby said with a strangled sob.

Qrow smiled. "Of course you do," he said. "You're just scared. Don't worry, I'll be there to keep her safe."

"Like you kept Pyrrha safe?" She felt bad about saying it the moment the words left her lips. She saw a pain in her uncle's eyes and she pulled her hands from his. She knew it wasn't fair to blame him for that, that if it hadn't been for him, she would be dead too. But she'd spent so long being afraid, sometimes it felt like it was all she knew how to do. She felt afraid, and helpless, and small, and it burned inside of her with every nightmare she had, ever tortured memory that haunted her. She swallowed past a lump in her throat. "Uncle Qrow, I'm-"

"You don't have to apologize," he said, standing. "You're right. I couldn't save your friend. And I may not be able to save Weiss either. I'm not perfect, not by a long shot. But I have a responsibility to more than just one person. Even you. It's my job to protect the people of Remnant, to make sure the bad guys don't win and innocent people don't suffer. I don't expect you to like it, hell, I don't even expect you to understand the decisions I have to make, but it's the reality we live in. Sometimes you have to take what victories you can, when you can get them."

Ruby thought about that. She thought about what would have happened if Pyrrha hadn't decided to fight those men. She thought about what could happen if Weiss didn't help her sister, if she didn't put herself in danger. It hurt Ruby more than she could bear to imagine anything happening to her friend, but if she didn't act, how many more people would suffer the same way?

And hadn't she wanted to help as well? Hadn't she turned and run to Pyrrha's aid, even though there was nothing she could have done, no way she could have changed what would happen? It had been stupid, it could have gotten her killed, but if she hadn't done it… how much worse would the pain she felt now be?

"Then take me with you." The words surprised even Ruby, but she knew that her mind was made up. "Take me with you, let me help."  
"You know I can't do that," he said.

"Why not? What you did, you can teach that, right? It's not just you who could do those things?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I can't do it again," she said. Tears were running down her cheeks, but her jaw was set in resolve. "I can't stand by and watch while my friend risks her life. I can't just let it happen anymore. I want to help, I have to _do_ something!"

"You're hurting," Qrow said, rationalizing. "You don't know what you want."

"Yes I do!" She was practically shouting at this point. "I'm tired of being scared! You can teach me, I've always been a fast learner. Teach me how to fight like you fight, how to protect people the way you do. I'm tired of being helpless, I'm _tired_ of watching Pyrrha die over and over again every night. I can't let that happen to Weiss, _I can't_!" She was grabbing the front of his shirt now, clinging to him like a drowning woman clinging to a lifeline.

"Please Uncle Qrow… I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Qrow stared down at her. For a strange moment, Ruby felt like he was looking at somebody else.

"Even if I said yes, which I'm not saying I am, you have to understand: train as hard as you like, but I can't teach you to do what I can in a month. I can teach you some tricks, but if we go all the way to Atlas and I decide you're not ready, you'd be sitting out, got it?"

Ruby nodded her head violently, daring herself to hope.

"You'd have to do everything I say, to the letter. No backtalk, no ifs, ands or buts. My word's going to be law out there. Can you handle that?"

Again, Ruby nodded. Qrow ran a hand over his face. "Summer would kill me for this," he growled. "I need to pick up some things and make travel arrangements tonight. Be ready to leave at sunrise tomorrow. Say whatever goodbyes you like, but don't tell anybody where you're going, got it?"

Ruby was still nodding frantically, her heart practically bursting out of her chest.

"Right," Qrow said, his voice filled with regret. "Let's get out of here."

Weiss was sitting in the lobby of the Atlas CCT tower when Winter emerged from the elevator. She looked flustered, a hint of color noticeable in her otherwise pale complexion. Weiss stood and fell into stride with her as they headed out of the building. "Well?" she asked. "Did you manage to get in touch with him?"

"I did," Winter confirmed, as they left the building. The tower was located in the heart of Atlas City, and when they emerged, they were surrounded by the din of traffic and city life. The location of the tower shielded them somewhat from the noise. The building was surrounded by carefully kept grounds with immaculate lines of hedges that were still defying the seasonal change and blooming brightly despite the rapidly approaching frosts of Atlas's autumn. Ahead of them, a wide but shallow staircase took them to the plaza, which had currently been turned into a landing zone for Winter's personal airship. A number of soldiers in full battle gear stood around it, weapons held loosely in their hands as they minded the vehicle.

They weren't the only guards the Schnee sisters were accompanied by. Two of her father's household security fell in with them as they walked through the grounds, also wearing armored suits. Even Father's money couldn't hire actual soldiers to act as guards, but he'd outfitted them as best he could, getting his hands on the best military-grade armor and weapons he could legally obtain. As such, her guards were not only well-protected, but also carried strangely boxy guns that apparently fired non lethal rounds manufactured in Vacuo.

Fortunately for the two of them, the guards hung back and out of earshot, preferring to have a nice wide view of the area around them. Weiss dropped her voice slightly anyways. No need for her father to get anything in their report that wasn't strictly necessary.

"Did he agree to help?" she asked.

Winter nodded. "Yes. He knows somebody who can extract you with very little difficulty. We will do it at the banquet. After you have spent enough time socializing to make Father happy, you will find an opportunity to slip away, get what we need, then go to the rendezvous point."

"And where will that be?" Weiss asked, trying to mask the nervousness that was creeping into her stomach again.

"I am not sure yet. We have time to figure it out." The pair made their way into the courtyard and the soldiers parted to let them on the ship. Winter's airship was unique, having been designed by her personally. The body was longer than most ships of a similar class and rather than the pair of thrusters on either side of a regular ship, hers had four, evenly spaced with two on each side. Banners trailed from the exhaust ports on each thruster, going from white to light blue in a gradient, but Weiss couldn't help but notice that, despite the use of family colors on the banners, the Schnee family crest was nowhere to be seen.

The hatch opened on the back of the ship, and the sisters made their way up the ramp and into the interior. The soldiers filed in behind them, taking up positions in the rear compartment along with Weiss's guards. Weiss and Winter, meanwhile, made their way along the interior to the bridge. It was a little odd to think of a ship this size having a bridge, considering Winter could pilot the ship herself, but it was the only word for it. The front of the ship was a large windshield divided only by the steel frames that held the glass panes in place. As Winter sat in the pilot's seat and began the usual flight checks, Weiss made her way to the very front of the ship and stared out at the city around her.

Weiss had never spent much time in Atlas City growing up. Her father had always insisted that whatever she needed could be brought to the estate, which may have been true, but it didn't exactly make for an interesting environment to be raised in. Atlas was the youngest of the four nations and as a result, its capital city - confusingly named after the nation itself, as was custom - was relatively new. For all that though, the Atlesian people had proved they were a industrious and resourceful group, and the city had grown seemingly exponentially year after year until it became the sprawling metropolis it was now. As the ship took off, Weiss watched the cityscape unfold beneath her, hundreds of people milling about, visiting shops, or going to work. Outside the circle of protection granted by the CCT tower, the buildings pressed close to each other, with huge skyscrapers sitting on every corner of nearly every block. As they rose above even those, she could spot the gleaming white monolith on the outskirts of the city that marked the location of the Atlesian Military Academy.

Like everything else in Atlas, the academy had supplanted Mantle University as the most prestigious school in the north. It was the final insult to the once-mighty nation of Mantle, who had lost everything in the Last War when the alliance of Vacuo and Vale edged out Mantle and Mistral's own forces. While Mistral had managed to recover itself fairly well in the intervening years, Mantle had lost too much ground, and its once-small providence, Atlas, stepped in to take its place in the world.

Weiss watched as the city fell away and they headed towards the Schnee estate. So much of her world came from history books. There were days when she felt like she was just composed of facts filtered through what other people had seen. Maybe she should be grateful for the madness that her life had suddenly become. Maybe, when all was said and done, she would be able to experience the world herself for a change. She could rejoin Beacon when it opened, maybe try to repair what she had damaged when she left her friends. It was the silver lining she desperately clung to.

She made her way to where Winter was seated and perched herself on the seat next to the older woman, smoothing the hem of her dress as she sat. "So, what do we do now?"

" _We_ do nothing," Winter said, looking up from her navigational equipment. "You have spent far too much time with me lately. I have some preparations to make before the banquet in any case. While I am away, _you_ must continue your training."  
Right, that. Weiss rolled her eyes. "I still do not see how this pseudo-spiritual nonsense is going to protect me if things go wrong."

"I cannot say that I blame you. It took me a while to truly understand it as well. But I have seen firsthand the kind of protection your Aura can grant you. Even if you do not have extensive training in it, which unfortunately you will not in any case, it gives you a significant advantage against somebody who still has their Aura repressed."

"And you said you learned all this from the General?"

"Yes. Who learned it from your headmaster, Ozpin."

Weiss remembered the conversation. It was hard to believe in some ways, but she'd devoted no small amount of time to picking through the accords to confirm what Winter had told her about the Specialists and the other organizations around Remnant.

She felt Winter's hand on her shoulder. "I know it is difficult, but please, try. You are my sister, and if anything were to happen to you because of all of this I-" she broke off, unwilling or unable to finish the thought. Weiss felt a stab of guilt.

"I will, do not worry," she said.

Her scroll chirped and Weiss checked it. It was a message from her father. _"When you return to the estate, visit me in my office."_ Weiss showed the message to Winter. Her face was grim.

"He likely does not suspect anything," she assured the younger girl. "Still, keep your conversation as brief as possible."  
"You do not have to tell me twice," Weiss said, stowing away her scroll. They flew the rest of the way there without speaking. When the ship landed, Weiss moved to leave. Winter stopped her, drawing her into a hug. It was out of character for Winter, but after a moment, Weiss returned the gesture, resting her head on her sister's shoulder.

"I cannot apologize enough for dragging you into this," she said. Weiss squeezed her in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

"I will be fine," she said, sounding more sure than she felt. The two drew apart. "Just be careful yourself, okay?"

"I will. Good luck." Weiss left the bridge, making her way past the soldiers while her guards fell into step with her. They made their way down the ramp and into the Schnee Estate's courtyard. The building itself loomed in front of her, enormous white marbled walls seeming more like a prison now than they ever did. There were men and women - mostly faunus - all around the grounds, grooming and tending to them, already preparing for the banquet. Father would be seating the Atlas council, and he wanted to make sure he made a good impression with them. He'd even rolled out the family banners, long and flowing, emblazoned with the white snowflake on a field of blue.

She couldn't postpone the inevitable any longer. She made her way inside and towards her father's office in the north wing. She was glad she'd decided to wear something nice today. Father hated seeing her dressed as a so-called "commoner." The outfit she wore now was one of the ones he'd approved for socialization: the dress lightened from lavender at the top to periwinkle along the fringe, the gradient broken by a white silk sash she had tied around her waist. It was sleeveless, but she wore a light bolero that matched the lavender of the dress, and fastened at the throat with a sapphire brooch. It drew attention to her blue eyes and matched her earrings as well. She wore heels, as per usual, that matched the bolero with straps that wound up her ankles. She was fussing over her off-center ponytail, trying to get her hair to cooperate when she arrived at the door to her father's study. She took a deep breath and tried to put a pleasantly neutral expression on her face. She knocked three times.

"Enter," a voice said inside after a moment's hesitation. She did so, making sure to secure the door behind her. She stood at attention, hands behind her back, knowing that he would address her in his own time.

Jacques Schnee was a tall man, as thin as a rapier's edge and twice as sharp. His snow white hair was slicked back, with not so much as a single strand out of place. His face was heavily lined, both his age and the stress of his occupation conspiring against him. He wore an immaculately pressed and taylor-fitted white suit and tie, with a blue shirt and a single red handkerchief in his breast pocket. At the moment he was bent over a few open folders, thumbing through some incredibly complicated looking legal documents. The only sound in the room was the rustling of papers and the clock that sat on the mantle of the office over the unlit fireplace.

A few chairs arranged around a circular wooden coffee table stood between the two of them. Weiss knew he hosted his most important business partners and political allies in this room. His papers were all strewn over his hand-carved wooden desk, a terrible eyesore that managed to somehow exude extravagance and arrogance at the same time. On the desk was a lone framed picture of her brother, Whitley.

Weiss found herself staring at the framed self-portrait of himself Jacques kept on the back most wall. It was done in his younger days - back when his hair and mustache had still been black. She was still studying it when he looked up at her. His eyes were steel and ice, the precise same color as her own. He beckoned her further inside and she crossed the spacious office to stand in front of the desk.

"I have changed my mind about that dress," he said, returning his attention to his paperwork. "Far too short to be seen in at the banquet."  
Weiss was caught off guard, but she recovered as best she could. Even his way of starting conversations was carefully sculpted, usually meant to disarm whoever he was speaking to, allowing him to catch them in vulnerable positions. "You approved this outfit yourself, Father. I even wore it out today just so I would feel comfortable in it."

"Yes, well, that was when I thought that one of the council members was bringing his son to the banquet. It would have been a favorable match to be sure. Still, there will be other opportunities. I will have something else made for you."

Weiss was still fumbling for a response to that when he changed topics. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with your sister lately."

"Well, she is family, Father," Weiss said, trying to keep indignity from coloring her voice.

"She _was_ family," he corrected her, leafing through a particularly large stack of papers. "Now she is just another one of Ironwood's toy soldiers. That man was already on thin ice with this family before these _ridiculous_ Dust embargos. He presumes too much."

"That is not exactly fair, sir," Weiss said cautiously. "You know that the embargos were only to prevent possible leaks in our distributing process."

"And if there _had_ been any leaks, does he think I would not know about it?" he barked, slamming his fist on the table. Weiss flinched, a phantom pain burning through the scar over her left eye. "Preposterous," he muttered to himself, seating collapsing into the chair behind the desk and picking up a document seemingly at random. "Still, I suppose you spending time with one of his top Specialists at least means that he is not using her for other, more enigmatic purposes.

"She has not mentioned any assignment she has been on recently by chance, has she?" he asked, finally giving Weiss his full attention.

She shook her head. "You know Winter would never divulge military secrets."

Jacques shrugged. "One can always hope." He steepled his fingers together over the pile of papers and studied her intently. "Klein tells me you have been spending quite a lot of your time training with your sword."

"Yes sir," she confirmed.

"I wonder if it would not be a more productive use of your time to be working on your application for Mantle University? I agreed to give you this semester off, it is true, but your education is too important to postpone any longer."

Weiss swallowed. "I… I was hoping to wait until Beacon reopened and re-enroll there," she said. At least, that had been her plan when she'd first come home. Her father's eyes seemed to bore into her own.

"If Beacon opens its doors next semester, we can discuss you returning, though why you would bother is beyond me. Nobody from that school has bothered to so much as send you a letter all summer. Might as well make a new start as far as I am concerned, and one closer to home at that."

Her stomach twisted as she remembered what Winter had told her, the messages she'd seen. She took a deep breath, holding her composure. Eventually she nodded, ever so slightly.

If her father noticed anything odd, he didn't say anything. "In the meantime," he continued, "finish your application. You will not be spending another whole semester wasting time waving a sword around, is that clear?"

"Yes Father."

"Good. I trust that you have found some time to work on your performance for the banquet when you are not busy stabbing training dummies with a sharp bit of metal?"

Weiss kept from pulling a face, but only barely. She hadn't wanted to be trotted out to perform like some sort of trained animal, but as was his way, Father had insisted. The council so loved her voice, he'd said, and showing her, a survivor of Beacon, off to them would only serve to emphasize the points he hoped to make about the embargo, and how they should be reaching out to the other nations in their time of need rather than denying them Dust.

Of course, all Jacques cared about truly were the millions he was losing every day with his market effectively quartered. Weiss took a deep breath.

"I have composed two new pieces, yes." A Schnee could never stoop to performing something written by another. It was one of the reasons she had been made to study music as a girl. "One of them is mostly instrumental though."

He nodded. "I will have a piano provided for you then." He sat back in his seat. "Well? Let me hear something."

She wrung her hands behind her back. "Do I have to?"

"I want to make sure you are taking this banquet seriously," he said, his tone brokering no argument. Weiss sighed, but adjusted her posture, bringing her hands in front of her, clasping them together. She closed her eyes, listening to the music in her head, counting off measures before she began.

" _Red like roses fills her dreams and takes her to the place she rests._

 _White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test._

 _Black's no beast, but born from shadows._

 _Yellow's beauty burns gold."_

She opened her eyes. "Is that it?" her father asked.

"Like I said, it is mostly an instrumental piece," she repeated. She'd written it earlier in the summer, when the absence of her friends had been hardest. She'd even written follow up songs for Blake and Yang, but she hadn't been able to find the right words for a song for Ruby.

"Mm, I see. Well, do not neglect this. It may seem trivial to you, but how you conduct yourself at this banquet could make or break your future career at the Schnee Dust Company. Do not disappoint me."

"I won't, Father."

He studied her a moment longer before returning his attention to his papers. "You are dismissed," he said, waving a hand idly.

She bowed her head and left him to his paperwork, letting out a sigh of relief as she shut the door behind her. A few of the staff made their way past her where she stood. She could hear the movement of the guards patrolling the halls around her. She thought about never returning, never coming back to her childhood home. It hurt to think about, but if asked, she wouldn't have been able to say why. Even here and now, surrounded by so many people, all supposedly at her beck and call, she was utterly alone. This was a prison to her. It had been her whole life.

She started walking down the halls, towards the west wing. Was it just her own nostalgia blinding her? Her own fierce desire for a place she belonged to? If she still had Beacon, or Ruby or Blake or Yang, would she have even hesitated to give Winter what she wanted?  
Or was she just a coward?

Before she knew it, she was back in her room. She opened the door to find someone reading over some papers she'd left on her desk. "Oh, hi Sable," she said.

The tiny girl turned and gave her a smile. Weiss thought for the barest second that her eyes had been brown when she looked up at her, but when she looked again, they were the same familiar green she remembered. Maybe she should be training less and sleeping more.

"What were you reading?" Weiss asked her, not really expecting an answer. She picked up the topmost sheet of paper on the desk. At the top was the title of the song she'd been working on. It was the follow-up to a song she'd sung in concert before leaving to attend Beacon, creatively named 'Mirror Mirror Part II.' It was mostly done, she just didn't like the last chorus. It repeated the first one, but she felt like the song needed to develop more. It needed a better ending.

"Got any ideas?" she asked Sable. The young girl just gave her the same smile she always did. "Right, well, thank you. That will be all for today." Sable bowed and excused herself from the room.

Weiss collapsed in her chair and stared across the room and out the window. The rolling landscape beyond separated the Schnee estate from...well, anything. It sprawled out running over hills and rivers, finally rising into the mountains that protected Atlas's western borders. It could all be hers someday. Every inch of it. Hers and hers alone. She would always have a home.

Hers alone.

She turned to her desk, taking a pen in hand. She dipped it swiftly into a small pot of ink and marked out her last chorus, replacing it with something better.

 _Some believe in fairy stories_

 _And the ghosts that they can't see._

 _I know that I could do so much_

 _If I could just believe in me._

 _Mirror, mirror_

 _I'll tell you something_

 _I think I might change it all._

* * *

 **A/N:** For some reason, I think writing Weiss has been my biggest challenge thus far. Not really sure why, but it seems like her parts have taken me the longest to put on paper.

Anyways, more lore of the world, and the plot begins to advance! This was something of a necessity chapter, and I cannot even tell you guys how much more excited I am for the next one.

Leave a review and let me know what you think so far! I can't tell you how much even the littlest amount of feedback means to me, it really motivates me to keep writing. That's all for now! Cheers.


	6. Chapter 6: Aura

**Chapter 6: Aura**

" _When you're ready, I get to say it first, deal?"_

" _Deal."_

Yang opened her eyes, the sounds of the crew working on the deck and the distant sloshing of the ocean against the hull of the ship rousing her from a restless sleep. She could feel Emerald's arm draped over her, her head resting on Yang's admittedly well-endowed chest. Apparently she drooled when she slept.

Yang pushed the other girl off her impatiently and rolled out of the bed, desperate for some air. The room was unbearably stuffy. Even the floorboards felt muggy under her feet. She crossed the room to the porthole on the wall and threw it open, breathing in the salty air. She shivered as the cool breeze rolled over her bare skin, but at least it was better than before. She stood like that a while, staring out at the endless expanse of ocean, feeling the sway of the ship beneath her. It had taken some getting used to, but after a few weeks on the boat, the sensation had become normal. In fact, the few times she'd gone ashore, she'd found she'd missed the constant motion.

The seemingly infinite blue horizon in front of her was something of a trick. They weren't far out to sea, as much as Yang might have appreciated that. Their side of the ship simply faced away from shore. They'd been hugging the shoreline for most of the voyage in fact. Emerald and Mercury had told her when she'd arrived at the docks weeks ago that they'd secured passage for them all on a merchant vessel that ran Dust shipments. After a few stops along Vale's coast, they would be heading across the sea to Vacuo. Both nations rested on the same continent, Sanus, but the overland trip between the two involved dipping down south and following the curvature of the landscape. Even with the delays they were making delivering cargo, it was much faster to travel across the ocean, where they had a more or less straight shot from the shores of Vale to the edges of Vacuo's notorious desert.

Yang had been expecting to work as payment for the room and board on a distinctly not passenger-friendly ship, but according to her new companions, a mysterious benefactor had already paid off the crew, allowing them comfortable and anonymous passage.

Unfortunately for Yang, that left a lot of downtime. Downtime was the last thing she needed. It was the reason she'd left Patch months ago.

Before the attack, she'd been on top of the world. She had taken second place in the Silver-Tier MMA championship match, she'd had great friends, a killer social life, and she even wasn't sucking in school for once. To top it all off, she got to come home every night to the most beautiful girl she'd ever met. Sure, maybe she could only call her her own in private, but that was okay. Everybody moved at their own pace. She would have come around.

Then she'd lost everything overnight. For weeks, she had barely even been able to drag herself out of bed, electing instead to sleep and stare out her window all day. She'd been pathetic. She'd hated herself then. Hated what she'd become. How that masked face would torture her every night in her dreams, how she'd be forced to see the blood pouring from her arm. That horrible red sword… and the scream of agony that would haunt her until the day she died.

Finally, she couldn't take moping around anymore and forced herself out of bed. She'd waited until her father had left the house and hung her old punching bag on its hook in the garage. Then she'd gotten to work. It hadn't been easy, but every second she was on her feet was a second she didn't have to feel afraid. Every minute of training was one step closer to breaking the asshole who had taken her arm. She'd done everything she could to drown her fear in anger and hatred. Her fear of being a cripple. Her fear of the masked man. Her fear of being alone...all of it, blocked by white-hot rage.

When her father had found out she was training, he tried to get her to slow down. He wanted her to talk to somebody, maybe even see a counselor even. If she was being honest with herself, she might have acknowledged that he was right. It wasn't bad advice. Hell, she'd given advice that had sounded pretty similar herself just earlier that year. But she hadn't wanted to hear it then. Slowing down meant that the fear would come back, and if the fear came back, she might never move on.

So she'd taken all her savings and left, finding a shithole in Vale she could stay in for cheap and a warehouse that didn't mind her coming in when the workers were gone and practicing. She'd arranged the fight with Junior a month in advance. If she was going to be working, she might as well have be working towards a goal, and funding a manhunt seemed like an admirable one at the time.

It probably said something about Yang's life that it had taken her a while to figure out who to look for. She'd briefly entertained the idea of hunting down the masked man, but every time she'd thought too hard about it, she came close to having a panic attack and she abandoned the notion quickly. After all, if he was as dangerous as the news reports said he was, she wasn't nearly prepared enough for a rematch. Yet.

She'd also considered going after her former partner, but somehow that idea had been even harder to stomach. The idea of seeing...her, brought too many painful emotions boiling to the surface. She wanted to be alone. Let her be alone.

That left only one person, the person she'd been looking for the longest. Her mother, Raven.

Yang had grown up believing Summer Rose was her mother. She raised her and cared for her just as much as she had ever cared for Ruby. For eight years of her life, Yang had known what it felt like to have a mother who loved her unconditionally. It wasn't until after Summer died that her father had told her the truth. Her mother had in fact been a woman named Raven Branwen. She'd been with her father before he married Summer. Taiyang had loved Raven fiercely, but the day after Yang was born, Raven had disappeared without a trace. Yang had grown up never knowing that Raven had existed.

Ever since she found out, Yang had been obsessed with finding her, desperate to ask her why she'd left, how she could have possibly abandoned her family so easily, but so far her search had been for nothing. Now, with no school, no friends and a gaping hole in her heart, Yang had figured it was as good a time as any to start looking again.

Of course, that line of thought had brought her out here, stuck on a boat, training as often as she could bear to keep her fears at bay.

The rest of her free time lately was spent distracting herself in other ways.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She glanced over her shoulder. Emerald was awake. She was propped up on one arm, the covers slipping off her as she stirred.

"I'm fine," Yang said. "Go back to sleep." She turned to look out the window again.

"Can't, unfortunately," the other girl mumbled. Yang heard her feet hit the floor. There was rustling from her luggage trunk as she dug through it for a clean outfit to wear. "We're expecting company today, remember?"  
Right, how could she forget? It had basically been all Emerald had talked about for the last two days. Their benefactor, whoever they were supposed to be, was joining them on the ship during their last stop in Vale. She would be accompanying the three of them to Vacuo. Apparently she was very eager to meet Yang.

The blonde girl stiffened as she felt arms wrap around her waist. Emerald's hands traced the taught skin of her stomach before trailing upwards, following the curve of her arm. They brushed against the leather straps that held the metal cap over her right arm in place. They bit tight into her flesh, causing the skin to be uneven, red and angry. Yang's shoulders tensed until Emerald moved on, hands falling to Yang's hips instead as she buried her face in her mane of yellow hair. "Come on, get dressed! We seriously can't be late this morning."

Yang took Emerald's wrist in her left hand and twisted her away, reversing their positions almost as easily as she had the night they'd met. She pushed her up against the wall next to the porthole and held her there, her eyes boring into Emerald's, red against red. Yang was somewhat disappointed to see that she had already dressed herself. Well, as much as Emerald ever did dress herself anyways.

The older girl smiled at her through lidded eyes. "As much as I love it when you give me that look, we don't have time for that this morning." She reached up and stole a quick kiss from Yang, which was more than enough to convince her to back off. Her lips burned where they had brushed Emerald's, and she fought the urge to slap that knowing grin off her face. _Though_ , she thought, _that might get things going in a more interesting direction_.

Almost as if she'd read her mind, Emerald rolled her eyes and made her way to the door. "Not today hot stuff," she taunted, putting far more sway in her hips than was absolutely necessary. "Get dressed, get on deck, hurry it up." She shot Yang a wink before shutting the door behind her.

Yang sighed and went about trying to hunt down something to wear. Her… involvement with Emerald confused even her sometimes. It wasn't emotional, at least it wasn't for Yang. Sometimes she got the feeling that Emerald enjoyed pretending there was something more between them, offering unwanted affectionate gestures. She would have thought she was trying to make Mercury jealous if it wasn't for the fact he didn't seem to give a flying fuck what the two of them did. It was always possible she did it because she knew it irritated Yang. She might have even guessed a few of the reasons why it irritated her so much, despite Yang having shared three things about herself with her companions the whole trip. One of which was her name.

Yang didn't need closeness. She didn't want love. She'd had that before, and what had it brought her besides more pain?

Despite Emerald's insistence that this was an important day - or perhaps because of it - she chose to put on a workout uniform instead of anything more presentable. An orange sports bra under a matching tank top with black shorts and tennis shoes. She clumsily shoved her hair one-handed into a ponytail that sat high on her head and did something to reign in the mess. Only when she was satisfied that she looked especially lackluster did she make her way above deck.

Mercury was lounging against the side of the cabin when she emerged, blinking into the sun. Around her she could hear the bustle of activity as men made preparations for the ship to dock. He was dressed in his usual dark clothes, his black eyes alert and his posture relaxed. He was tapping the toe of one boot against the deck, and she could see the large heavy cuffs he wore around each ankle. He nodded in acknowledgement when he spotted her.

"Morning sunshine," he said, with an easy grin. She rolled her eyes at the nickname. She'd made the mistake of asking him not to call her that when they'd first set off and he hadn't let up with it since. "You're just in time, we'll be pulling in momentarily."

"Don't call me that," Yang growled, leaning up against the cabin with him. "So, now that we're about to meet her, anything you can tell me about our so-called 'benefactor?'"

He laughed. "Same answer I gave you the last dozen times you've asked: she prefers to speak for herself."

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Whatever sunshine."

She stamped on his toe, hard, then gave a shriek of pain. She hopped away from him, clutching her foot. "What the fuck? Are you wearing steel-toed boots or something?"

Mercury just laughed harder. "Something like that, yeah."

"Dammit Merc, what did you do to her?" Emerald had wandered over to see what was wrong. "I swear to the gods if you break her before she gets here-"

"Hey, I didn't do anything, okay? She started it."

"Oh, that's real mature," Yang said, testing her foot to make sure she hadn't actually injured herself. Mercury stuck out his tongue in response.

"Cool it, both of you," Emerald snapped, before turning to Yang, trying to coax her into letting her check her out. The blonde girl brushed her off.

"It's fine, leave it."

As she spoke, the ship rocked unexpectedly and Yang had to struggle to keep her footing. "Easy does it!" the captain bellowed from the front of the ship. "You trying to run us aground?"

The ship had finally pulled into the docks, though not without some complications it would seem. Dock workers were already throwing lines for the crew to secure while another couple of men ran out the gangplank. Yang, Mercury and Emerald stood and watched as the men began to haul crates from below deck while a crane was driven into position to grab some of the larger containers. Two men were carrying a heavy looking wooden crate between them down the gangplank when Yang saw them stop. They paused for a moment, the man in front saying something she couldn't hear. A female voice responded to them, and the men backed up, clearing the gangplank as a woman stepped onto the ship.

The first thing Yang was struck by was how...small she was. Okay, granted, she may have had an inch or so on Yang in terms of height, but she was going to chalk that up to the black stiletto heels she was wearing. It was more than just her height though. Her shoulders were narrow, her arms graceful and willowy, and her legs slender, though with clearly visible muscles moving beneath the surface of her skin as her calves worked overtime in those ridiculous shoes. She was clad in what would have been a scandalously short red dress if it wasn't for the black shorts that were just barely visible out the bottom of the… whatever the garment was supposed to be. It was slit up the right side, revealing that the shorts were laced across her outer thighs for reasons that frankly baffled Yang. The sleeves of her strange not-dress seemed to be embroidered with a swirling pattern of gold all the way to her wrists, where a stretch of gold fabric extended them further, winding around the middle finger of each hand.

But it was the woman's eyes that drew her attention the most. It looked like they were made from liquid gold. Well, the right one did. The left was obscured by a cascade of black hair that hung long over her left shoulder. She swept the deck with her gaze, and when it landed on the three of them, Yang could feel the weight of her attention as if it had a physical presence. She didn't walk towards them as much as she sauntered, though in heels that high, Yang wasn't sure she could have managed better herself.

As the woman approached them, Yang felt Emerald cling to her left arm, her hand sliding down to lace their fingers together. She rested her chin on her shoulder, leaning heavily on the younger girl, possibly to prevent her from escaping. "Cinder!" she said in a voice positively dripping with admiration. "It's so good to see you!"

 _Ohh, so it's not_ Mercury _you want to make jealous after all,_ Yang thought, with a modicum of dry amusement.

If the woman, Cinder, noticed or cared that Emerald was practically wrapped around another girl, she didn't show it. In fact, she didn't even glance at her at all, keeping that smouldering gaze fixed on Yang. She stopped a few feet from them without saying a word. For the first time Yang could remember, she was speechless.

"Cinder, this is Yang Xiao Long," Emerald said, brushing her nose against Yang's cheek. Yang wondered how much trouble she'd get in for dumping her over the side of the boat.

"I gathered as much," Cinder said, without looking in Emerald's direction. Her alto voice was honeyed silk, and Yang found herself straining to catch every single word.

"I've heard a lot of promising things about you Yang Xiao Long," she continued. "You have a lot of potential. But potential can only get you so far. Even good, strong steel must be molded and sharpened to make it truly deadly. You've been tempered, it's true. But now you must be honed. I believe I can teach you a great many things. That is," she said, raising a delicate eyebrow, "if you're willing to learn."

Yang swallowed. What else was she here for? If this woman could teach her to be stronger, better, who was she to deny her the opportunity? It was all she had left anymore.

"I am," she said, setting her jaw in determination.

Cinder smiled. "Leave us," she said, waving a hand in casual dismissal. Mercury nodded and slunk away across the deck, probably back to his quarters where he spent most of his time. Yang felt Emerald tense beside her. She wondered briefly if she would refuse, but the thought didn't last long as the older girl turned to face Yang, placing a slow, passionate kiss on her lips. Yang, for her part, gave her nothing back, going rigid as a board. Outrage and indignation locked her in place long enough for Emerald to slip out of her grasp and disappear below deck.

Yang saw a small smile play on the corner of Cinder's mouth. "She seems to have grown fond of you," she said with a hint of mirth. Yang just glared at her, eliciting a broader smile. "Follow me," she said, heading below deck. We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Despite the surrealness of her situation, Ruby had to admit that she had always wanted to sit and dangle her legs over the edge of a train car while she stared meaningfully off into the distance. It had always seemed like a very romantic notion in all the stories she'd read and movies she'd seen.

Of course, those same stories failed to mention how boring it could get after a while.

She'd woken that morning a little earlier than usual, slapping her alarm as quickly as she could before getting out of bed. For once, she managed not to wake Ren. Not that he would have been able to get up, that is. Nora was wrapped around him so tightly she was concerned for a moment that he might have suffocated in his sleep. She quietly pulled out the note she'd written the night before and left it folded on the nightstand next to Jaune's bed. That had been the hardest moment. The idea of leaving him behind, after everything they had been through together. She thought about the day they'd met at Beacon, both of them so lost in their new world. Yang had just abandoned her to visit with some of her old friends from Signal High, and Jaune… well, his ladykiller act hadn't exactly made him popular day one.

They had been a perfect match in some ways. They'd been there to support each other, acted as the glue binding both their groups of friends together. Without him, her world would have been a lot colder. A small part of her truly wished that she could stay, for his sake, and Ren and Nora's if not her own.

But she'd made her decision. She just had to hope they'd understand. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bag from the foot of her bed and slipping out the door.

She'd waited a while for Qrow after that. For a heartbreaking moment, she'd worried that he'd changed his mind and decided to leave without her. It wasn't until the cawing of a crow drew her attention down the dirt path that she saw him approach. He walked like he was carrying a heavy burden, and he wasn't smiling, but he was there. He'd beckoned to her wordlessly, and the two made their way through the early morning mists to the town of Haven's air docks.

Much like the docks at Beacon, the air shuttles that landed there were ideal for short-range transport, taking people up and down from the high cliffs of the plateau. The shuttle took them to the outskirts of Mistral City, where they almost immediately hopped on a train heading north and west. She remembered watching Qrow hand the conductor a stack of Lien before taking her to one of the cars in the back. There weren't any other passengers on the train, and the car they climbed into was full of large metal crates.

"What is all this stuff?" she'd asked as the train began moving.

"Military equipment, mostly," he said. He nodded to the door to his right that lead further down the train. "Go make yourself comfortable. I have to find something." He hefted a crowbar and started eyeing crates meaningfully.

Ruby had done as she was told, and watched the cliffs and rocky terrain around them morph into the dense forests that northern Mistral was known for. It was an hour at least until the door behind her opened and Qrow stepped through. He was carrying a long oblong case, matte black in color. It looked like something you might carry an instrument in.

"What's that?" She got up to go inspect the item.

"Your weapon." He put the case in her hands. It was heavy, and she staggered under the weight.

"M-my what?"

"Your weapon. You want to be out here, doing what I do? Well, you have to learn to fight. I don't have time to teach you the nuances of hand-to-hand combat, and I wouldn't want you anywhere near that kind of trouble anyways. This, however, I can teach you the basics of. And it will keep you out of close range combat."

Ruby still didn't understand. "I don't know, I still think I'd have to be pretty close to somebody to hit them with this thing…"

Qrow didn't laugh. He just reached out and pressed a seemingly innocuous part of the case. There was a mechanical whirring sound from within it and a stock extended from the edge currently facing the floor. The opposite panel opened and a long, narrow barrel slid out the front. A piece of the longer edge folded up inside the case and a pistol grip with a trigger and guard slid out instead. There was an empty slot in front of the the trigger guard. Finally, a scope slid out the side opposite the pistol grip.

When all was said and done, Rwby was holding a sniper rifle nearly as long as she was tall. Ruby just stared.

"Customizable, high impact," Qrow said, pulling a square magazine from a pocket and shoving it in the empty space in front of the trigger guard. "You're going to learn to shoot it."

"U-um," Rwby stammered.

"You remember what I said, kid? Out here, my word is law. I say you're going to learn to shoot that thing, you're going to learn to shoot it." He reached out and pressed the same part of the case again and the weapon folded back up into its more innocuous state. "But not just now. That's your offense, but the first thing you're going to have to learn is how to defend yourself."  
"I thought you said I wasn't going to learn hand-to-hand combat?"

"And you're not. You're fast, I've seen you run. You get into a situation you can't handle, you bolt. I just have to make sure you survive long enough to get somewhere safe."

Ruby got the sinking feeling that she was in vastly too far over her head, but she tried to be brave. She nodded and set the sniper rifle aside. "So what do we do?"

He smirked and walked past her, perching himself on the edge of the train car where she had been sitting. He patted the floor next to her and she joined him.

"You remember the stories about huntsman and huntresses I used to tell you when you were a little girl?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they're all true. Oh sure, they've become myths and legends now, but there was once a day when mankind had to fight tooth and nail just for the right to survive. The creatures of Grimm were relentless, soulless beasts who hungered for our lives. So mankind took what they had and weaponized it, turning it into a force not even the Grimm could easily overcome."

"Right, Dust," Ruby said, remembering the tales.

"Not just Dust," Qrow corrected her. "There was another weapon we could wield against the Grimm. One that they understood even less than a mineral that granted us power of the elements. Our souls."

* * *

"What does that even mean?" Yang said, wailing on the punching bag hung in the corner. She and Cinder were in what the crew laughably called their "workout room." It was small, boxy and bare with a single punching bag and a bench with a few sets of free weights. All that and a single, wide mat. Some workout room.

"It means, with the right kind of mindset, you can unlock your soul, allowing it to act as your shield and sword." Cinder was perched on the edge of the bench nonchalantly, watching as Yang lay into the stuffed leather bag.

"Sounds like a load of bull to me," Yang said, spinning into a powerful kick that slammed the bag against the wall. She caught it awkwardly as it came sailing back towards her and she wiped sweat from her brow. "I thought you were going to teach me something real." She turned to face Cinder, surprised the woman was on her feet. "I didn't realize we were going to be talking about some psycho-spiritual bull-"

Cinder lashed out and cracked Yang across the face. She spun violently, seeing stars, and hit the ground. After taking a moment to get her head to stop spinning, she pushed herself to a sitting position and glared at the woman. Cinder smiled pleasantly back at her.

"What. The _fuck_. Was that for?" She could already feel the left side of her face swelling. Had she hit her with an open palm?

"If you think it's so much nonsense, clearly you should have no trouble besting me, right?" There was a mocking tone in Cinder's voice now and her eyes glittered with amusement.

"Well, sure, if you're done sucker-punching me." Yang pushed herself to her feet and Cinder backed up a few steps, walking onto the mat. She tested her balance, then kicked off her heels, obviously deciding the uneven surface of the mat would give her trouble. Yang stalked towards her, now with a healthy inch or two of height advantage. She lunged with her metal-capped stump, feinting hard before driving straight for Cinder's face with a vicious left hook. She felt the hit connect, felt her neck snap to the side with the force of the punch. A surge of triumph ignited inside Yang.

But Cinder didn't fall. In fact, she barely reacted at all. She turned to face Yang again, her smile pleasant. "Is that all?" she asked sweetly.

Yang grit her teeth sent a kick straight at her opponent's chest, twisting her body to give the blow more power. Cinder reached out with one hand and stopped the blow. Just...stopped it dead. Before she could retract and reset herself, Cinder had her by the ankle. Without so much as a grunt, she flipped Yang completely off the ground and slammed her down to the mat. The blonde girl felt the wind go out of her and she stared at the ceiling a moment, catching her breath. She saw Cinder approach, her steps delicate and particularly feminine. For some reason that just served to enrage Yang more.

When she was close enough, Yang moved, twisting her legs between Cinder's and tripping her up, bringing her crashing to the ground. She was on her in a flash, straddling her waist and hammering her over and over with fist and metal cap. Each blow fell on Cinder's arms, raised to guard her face, and moving with liquid grace to intercept each hit. After nearly a minute of this, Yang was winded and sweating profusely, her arms shaking.

"Had enough yet?" Cinder asked coyly. Yang growled and drew back to wipe that smug smile off her face for good. She moved faster than Yang could anticipate, reaching out suddenly and seized her by the top, her legs shoving off the ground as she rolled them both backwards. Yang tucked her head in as it hit the mat, the rest of her body following suit. She was staring _up_ at Cinder now, who was still smiling that infuriating smile.

Fire raged through Yang's mind. She wanted to fight back, she wanted to _break her_ dammit! But she was out of steam, her arms tired, her body already aching from the few blows and falls she'd suffered. Plus, despite their struggle, Cinder barely looked winded. Her face showed no sign of where Yang had hit her. Fuck, she didn't even have a single hair out of place. Yang was grinding her teeth so hard she risked cracking them. She understood what was happening. She knew what this little display was meant to be.

"Fine," she muttered through her clenched jaw. "Teach me."

* * *

"Sometimes people get the wrong idea about Aura," Qrow said while Ruby listened, enraptured. The pair of them had moved a few cars back. This one was quieter, with only a single window and a locked door. It had a few cots thrown in the corner and the crates that littered the other cars were conspicuously absent. Qrow had drawn a curtain over the window, making the room dark and cool. They'd put aside most of their things, the weapons and their bags, and sat in the center of the floor, cross-legged.

"They think it's something purely physical, a way to make themselves stronger or tougher," he continued, "but while there is a physical element to it, it's deeper than that. Some say its spiritual. Others say it's all in your head. They're both right, to some extent.

"Drawing from your Aura means knowing yourself, the essence of what makes you, you. Of course, that's hardly easy. Some people can spend an entire lifetime chasing down knowledge like that and never get there. Plus, people change. Over time, with experiences and decisions you make, you can become somebody different entirely. When Ozpin taught me, he was less concerned about me figuring out every little detail of who I was as a person. He said that wasn't what was most important. It's much better to find a piece of yourself, something you can know, truly and deeply is a part of your being. One little corner of your soul that you can stand up tall and show off to the world with absolute certainty that shapes you and makes you who you are. The rest might change around you, it's true. Or it could be hidden, hard to discover. But so long as you have that foundation, that bedrock to stand on, you can call upon your Aura."

"So… what can it, you know, do?" Ruby asked timidly.

"Like I said, there is a physical element to it. Your Aura acts as a shield of sorts, it protects you from harm, allowing itself to be damaged in your place. The more you practice utilizing it, the more comfortable you become relying on it, the more damage it can take."

"Even bullets?"

The corner of Qrow's mouth turned up briefly. "Yeah. Train long enough and you can even stop bullets. I wouldn't go looking for practice though. Just 'cause they won't kill you, doesn't mean they don't hurt like hell."

"Try not to get shot, I think I can manage that." Ruby tried to keep her voice light, but her mind was reeling, trying to process yet another world-altering piece of information.

"Aura also makes you more aware of the world around you," he said. "It acts as another sense in a way, warning you to danger or enhancing the senses you already possess. Got a huntsman in training who's blind if you can believe that. Oz says the kid's mother was a huntresses. Taught him from a young age and he's used it to compensate all his life. It's pretty amazing really."

"How do you… activate it?" Ruby said, failing to come up with a better word.

"Now, that's the age-old question, isn't it? How do you prove to whatever gods may control this whole crazy process that you've reached sufficient spiritual enlightenment to utilize your Aura? There are a lot of different theories, and so far a lot of different things have worked. Sum- Some people have done it through meditation. Others have traveled, trying to find places that resonate with them. A guy I trained with back in the day would just wear himself out, running, exercising, sparring, anything he could to push his body to the limits. All of those things have worked.

"You have the distinct disadvantage of having very little time and very few options available to you. I'd suggest starting with meditation. Easiest to do on a moving train at least." He stood and stretched. "Don't worry though, I'll have another job for you to occupy yourself when you need a break."  
Ruby looked at him quizzically. Qrow retrieved his sword. He eyed it for a moment, then gave his wrist a sharp twist. The gears in the hilt began to spin and Ruby heard a mechanical whirring sound as some inner mechanism activated. The blade of the greatsword segmented into four pieces and extended away from each other. They folded back over the dull side of the blade until they formed a curved edge. With another metallic sound, a wickedly sharp blade of dark red steel extended from the underside of the new curve. Qrow repositioned the weapon, drawing it behind his back as the whole blade folded over so it now rested perpendicular to the hilt, which telescoped twice. With a flourish, he planted the butt of the shaft on the ground.

Ruby eyed the scythe apprehensively, doing her best to keep a flood of bad memories at bay. It was nearly twice her own height and she would have known it was dangerous even if she hadn't seen it mow down four men like they were wheat. Qrow leaned the scythe next to the sniper rifle. "That's your job," he said pointing to the two weapons.

"That's my what?"

"You're good with building stuff, right? Designing things, drawing up blueprints, that's the kind of thing that got you into Beacon, yeah?"

"Um, yeah, I- I guess."

"Thought so. That's good. See, we're en route to meet up with somebody, an asset who is pretty much our only hope of pulling off this little heist of Winter's. Problem is, she isn't exactly the sympathetic type. She won't do the job for free, no matter how many lives may be at stake. That means I have to offer her something worth taking the risk for. Fortunately, I know what she likes.

"She and her group like to stockpile weapons and ammo amongst other things. She's been itching to get her hands on a scythe like mine for a while now. Well, you're going to give her the designs for one. And to sweeten the deal, her's is also going to contain a firearm. Seeing as how guns and the blueprints for them are hard to come by, it should pique her interest."

"B-but I've never built a gun before!" Ruby said, panicking slightly. "I've never even designed a weapon! I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"Then you're going to have to figure it out," Qrow said. "There should be some tools on this thing. Take the rifle apart, look through it, figure out how it works. Should do you some good to get to know it before you learn how to use it anyways. You can look at my scythe all you want, but that stays in one piece." Ruby just stared at him, dumbfounded.

Qrow laughed for the first time since the previous day. "I told you this wasn't going to be easy, kid."

"I knew that!" she sputtered indignantly. "I just didn't realize you were going to make me do _homework_ on the super secret mission to save my best friend."

Qrow knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look Ruby, I know you. You're smart, too smart for your own good really. You've always excelled at everything you've tried to do, and not just because you're talented. It's because you're driven, motivated. You've got a lot of heart, kid, you wouldn't be here if you didn't. It's part of who you are."

Comprehension dawned on Ruby. "Y-you… you think this might help me unlock my Aura?"

Qrow shrugged. "It can't hurt." He stood and headed for the door that lead further up the train.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"You've got your assignments, you know what you need to do.I'm going to go see if one of the crew members can hook me up with a drink or two. I'll check in on you later." He glanced back at her when he was partway out the door. Ruby got the same strange sensation she had the day before, that he was looking at somebody other than her.

"Good luck kid. You'll need it."

* * *

Yang hit the opposite wall hard enough to rattle her teeth. She ached everywhere, but she didn't have time to recover, she had to move. Now.

She rolled out of the way just as Cinder's fist impacted the spot her head had been a second ago. Her blow left a small indent in the metal wall. Yang tried to move behind her, to grapple her, get her on the ground again, but she seemed to sense her intentions and Yang couldn't pin her down. She caught an elbow to the stomach for her troubles and Cinder's leg lashed out, slamming Yang in the chest and sending her careening to the floor.

"Pathetic," Cinder said, standing over her. "We've been at this for days now, and you haven't shown even the slightest improvement."

She had opted for something more suitable for sparring today. She wore grey pants reminiscent of fatigues if it weren't for the fact that they hugged her like a pair of designer jeans. She wore a brown vest with a high collar short enough to leave most of her midriff exposed. She opted not to fasten it, instead having wrapped a few dozen feet of bandages around her chest in lieu of an actual top. She completed the look with a pair of brown fingerless gloves and a brown leather armband she wore buckled on her left bicep. Her boots had a platform heel that robbed Yang of her height advantage once more, and here with her back on the ground, she practically felt miniscule.

"How am I supposed to improve?" She snapped. "Even at the top of my game I'm still working with a handicap here," she added, angrily waving the stump of her arm.

"I told you, if you can find your Aura, it won't be a problem." She never offered to help Yang up. If she didn't stand on her own, she'd kick her until she did. If that failed, they were done for the day. The first motivating blow caught Yang in the ribs and she rolled to all fours to push herself to her feet.

"Your body is broken, that doesn't mean your soul is," Cinder continued as she watched Yang struggle. "You're holding yourself back. Clinging to something." As soon as she was on her feet, Cinder drove her fist into Yang's stomach, bringing her back to her knees. She stayed that way for a moment, doubled over, fire raging through her mind as her anger consumed her.

She felt an iron grip at the base of her ponytail as Cinder yanked her face up so that their eyes could meet. "I can see the power you have inside of you," the older woman said, her voice barely audible. "Yes… you have so much strength. But you're afraid. Your fear makes you weak."

Yang lunged at her, but Cinder sidestepped and she found herself gripping the punching bag in the corner just to stay standing. Her body was shaking. Her skin was covered in bruises and she was favoring her right leg. Cinder was behind her then. She grabbed her ponytail and jerked her head back, drawing her away from the support the bag had offered and into the center of the room.

"Tell me," she hissed, "what are you afraid of? What did you lose? Besides the obvious, of course," she added with a cruel smirk.

Yang threw her left elbow back, but Cinder caught it, twisting her into an armbar. "Why are you here?" she asked. "What are you striving for? Your anger is a potent force, but it can only get you so far. What else drives you?"

Yang struggled briefly, but it was obvious she wasn't going anywhere. She was too strong.

"I'm looking for someone," she heard herself say. The words came out bitter, broken.

"Finally, something substantial." Cinder said. "And here I was thinking you were just full of hot air." Yang lashed out with a foot, but Cinder stepped around the attack and then her leg was pinned too. "Who are you looking for?"

"My mother," she said after a moment of hesitation.

Cinder considered that for a moment. "Estranged mother? Left at a young age, I presume?' Yang just nodded. The fire inside her was fading now, exhaustion threatening to drown it completely.

"This is good." Cinder let Yang go and she collapsed to her knees once again, "but it's not enough. A mother who left you years ago, that wound is old and scarred. Something has come along to rip it open again." She knelt in front of Yang and put a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet hers. "Who abandoned you this time?"

Yang looked away, trying and failing to hold back tears. She clenched her fist and bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. She couldn't say it. She hadn't even been able to think it.

Cinder chuckled. "Ahh, a lover, then? Poor Emerald will be heartbroken." Yang glared at the older woman, fighting to rise to her feet. Cinder stood and watched her struggle.

"What was her name?" Yang shook her head, her legs trembling beneath her. Cinder cocked her head to one side. "Are you afraid of that too?" Yang opted to lunge forward, swinging the metal cap of her right arm at Cinder's head. The dark haired woman caught the blow and drove her knee into Yang's ribs, dropping her to the ground once more.

She watched Yang struggle a moment. "Could it be that you still love her?" She aimed a kick at her that Yang rolled to catch against her back. "Get up, or get out," she said.

Yang rose again, swaying badly as she struggled to remain on her feet. Cinder seemed amused.

"Maybe you won't say her name because she hurt you _that_ badly. Clearly she left you and not the other way around… did she take a piece of you with her? Literally, perhaps?"

Yang wanted to attack again. Maybe she even made a move to, but before she could so much as blink, Cinder had her gripped by the front of her shirt and slammed against the wall behind her. She felt herself lifted off her feet a few inches and held there, pinned against the metal.

"Enough," Cinder said. "You're useless to me like this. You spend so much of your energy fighting yourself, fighting this ridiculous, romantic notion and for what? Some _girl_? Somebody who clearly you meant nothing to?" Yang's eyes snapped to Cinders, pain temporarily eclipsing the usual anger. Cinder let go of her and she nearly felt her legs collapse from under her as she leaned against the wall for support.

"Tell. Me. Her name."

Yang was trembling. Was Cinder right? Was she being held back because she couldn't face this? Because she wasn't allowing herself to acknowledge her deepest fears?

"Blake." The name brought a fresh wave of agony. Yang's voice broke, her whole body shaking, though not from weakness this time. Tears fell freely as she spoke. "Her name was Blake."

"And what did Blake do?" Cinder's expression was intense, insistent. Yang clung to it for dear life.

"She left. You were right, she left me. After…" she gestured with her useless arm.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Cinder smiled, backing up. Yang staggered forward a step, standing under her own power now. "But you _loved_ this girl, didn't you?" Her voice rang with mockery and amusement. "Shouldn't you _know_ what drove her away?"

"I… there were a lot of things she didn't tell me." Yang had never needed to know. She knew that Blake had been hurt before, and that she was more guarded than anybody she'd ever met, but Yang had seen through that to the person who lay beneath the layers and layers of fear and self doubt. She had wanted to strip all of that away, to show her how beautiful she truly was. She wanted Blake to see herself the way Yang saw her.

"Oh? So am I to believe that the two of you were strangers to each other then?"

"What? N-no, I-" _I told her everything_. Blake had been the first person she wasn't related to learn about her mother. She was the only person she confided her own insecurities in. She'd told her about how she was afraid of thinking about the future, unsure what she could do to give her life purpose. She'd admitted her seemingly insatiable addiction to adrenaline, how she would do anything just for the thrill of feeling her heart pound against her chest, or to feel the flight or fight instinct sing through every nerve of her body. It's why she'd bought a motorcycle, why she'd started doing mixed martial arts. It was the solace she'd sought when it felt like everything else had failed her.

She had bared her soul to Blake, not only to make her feel safe, but because for the first time in her life she felt like she _could_. Her previous relationships had been fleeting, more flings than anything else. She'd had fun, sure, but she had never found anybody she could trust her innermost self to. Not until she'd met Blake.

"I gave her _everything_ that I had to give." Yang felt a spark kindle to life somewhere inside her chest. It was a weak, feeble thing, threatening to flicker out of existence at any moment, but she clung to its heat regardless.

"She used you," Cinder said. "She took every ounce of strength you gave her. She took your love, your admiration, your _need_. But answer me this: now that you need her, _where is she_?"

"Gone." The word was tiny, fragile, but it breathed new life into the spark in Yang's chest. "She's gone." It flickered again, defiant. "She left me. I was broken and scared and she _left_!" The spark burst into a roaring flame. "I'm so tired of being scared," she went on, "tired of seeing _his_ face night after night. Tired of being _useless_ , tired of being a cripple!"

Cinder seemed pleased with the answer. "So where does that leave you? Are you just going to roll over and die because your life got hard? Are you too weak to go on without her? Are you going to let the people who hurt you define you?"

She was right. She was so right. Yang was not weak. She never backed down. She never stopped, never quit. "No." Her voice was iron. The flame became an inferno, searing away pain, burning back heartache. That was who she was, the semblance of her existence. She had never needed anyone before. Hadn't she already lost two mothers in her life? Hadn't she spent her early years practically raising her baby sister because her father had been too busy moping around to do it himself? Hadn't she taken every challenge life could throw at her and thrown it back harder still? She hadn't stopped before. She wouldn't stop now. This injury wasn't worth that. Adam Taurus was not worthy to defeat her.

And neither was Blake Belladonna.

"Prove it, then" Cinder said, lowering her voice. "Prove you're worth my time."

Yang moved.

Faster than should have been possible.

The fire was no longer inside her - she was at the center of it. She _was_ fire. The tiny room lit up with brilliant golden light as flames ran though the snarls and twists of her hair. The cord holding it in its ponytail was incinerated instantly, and her hair fanned out behind her, trailing embers as she lunged for Cinder. It was an impulsive move, instinctual even. A move she'd ended countless sparring matches with. They'd always told Yang she had a vicious right hook.

She should have missed entirely, the stump of her arm sailing straight past Cinder's jaw, but instead, Yang felt her arm stop. She felt the shock of the impact travel up her missing forearm and into her flesh and bone. Cinder's head snapped to one side with the blow and she fell to her knees.

Yang could only stand and stare. She wasn't tired anymore. In fact, she couldn't remember feeling more _alive_. Her world was heat and flame and _energy_ coursing through her body. She breathed in and heard the crackle of the flames running through her hair.

But if the sensations she felt now surprised her, it was nothing compared to the sight of her right arm. In the horrible empty space she'd grown so used to over the summer, the space where a piece of her used to exist, she could see a ghost of an image outlined in gold. She flexed the fingers of the phantom hand and watched as they responded. She smiled, a ferocious expression, her eyes living flames.

She looked down at Cinder who was wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. There was a fierce pride in her gaze.

"Finally," she said. "Progress."

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh man, this chapter. I've been waiting for this for a while and in the end it turned out a _lot_ harder than I thought it would be. Still, I'm fairly pleased with the way it turned out. Yang's getting a little dark-side force training from Darth Cinderous and Ruby's realizing she might be a little over her head with Qrowbi-Wan Kenobi.

Okay, the second comparison is a bit of a stretch, but I really did want to highlight the differing views of Aura. Afterall, Pyrrha from the canon (who had a lot more solid information to go on than the people in my AU do) made sure to point out that Aura is a combination of the light and dark that exists in everybody, and I think overtime it's going to turn out to be just as important that Yang embraces some more of the light as it will be for Ruby to embrace more of the dark. (SIDE NOTE which is super cool because Yang is the one generally associated with sunlight etc. and Ruby is the one who's got the gothic reaper thing going for her. Contrasts are fun!)

Sorry for the long analytical author's note. As per usual, leave feedback if you like it or if you have criticisms. It's super motivating and helps me improve. Cheers.


	7. Chapter 7: Familiar Faces

**Chapter 7: Familiar Faces**

Blake regretted a lot of things about her current lot in life. She regretted leaving her friends, she regretted dragging Sun into the mess she was currently making of her life. She regretted having to try to get back in with the White Fang.

But at that moment, the thing she regretted most was choosing to come to Vacuo.

"Seriously Sun, how did you manage to grow up with this constant heat?" She was sweating profusely, the midday sun beating down and turning the city around them into an oven. For his part, Sun looked perfectly comfortable, even relaxed as they made their way through the residential district they'd been set up in to the address they were supposed to meet their supervisor at.

He just shrugged. "Honestly, you just kind of get used to it," he said. "Ditching the coat would have been a good start though."

"What, and get sun burned to death? No thank you." The coat certainly wasn't helping the heat problem, but given Blake's complexion, it was an unfortunate necessity. It was white, with tails that hung down to her ankles. It had a high collar too which further helped stave off the relentless sun.

"Suit yourself," he said, double checking the map they'd been provided when they'd arrived in the city. They'd hopped off the train they'd stowed away on in an frieght yard, using the cover of night to slip past the few human workers who had been out late. After that, they'd met up with a representative of the White Fang who'd set them up with a place to stay and a time and place to meet their supervisor for the upcoming job.

That had left them with a week to explore Vacuo City. Not that Blake had been terribly interested in sightseeing. They had a roof over their head and a few square meals a day, but they were still broke, which seemed like all the justification Sun had needed to steal food, drinks and flowers for Blake. Despite their talk back in the port town, it seemed there were just some behaviors she was going to be unable to curb anytime soon.

Still, seeing where he'd grown up had at least been interesting. Sun had been quick to inform her that he'd actually lived most of his life outside the city itself, in one of the outlying villages. He'd hopped the train when he could, determined to get up to trouble in the city itself. It wasn't hard to see how. The buildings here were oddly cramped for a city located in a broad, sprawling desert. The streets were narrow and twisted, creating lots of shadowy alleyways that provided hiding places for miscreants and aspiring thieves. Beyond the shadows, storefronts and street vendors alike were crowded together selling whatever they could to make a few lien. With all the noise and commotion, it was easy to see how Sun the delinquent had found his humble beginnings. She herself had had to stave off more than a few would-be pickpockets, many of them younger than she would have ever considered a pickpocket being.

Yet, as they headed towards their location now, she noticed that the streets had become noticeably less crowded. The population had shifted too; where once she had seen mostly humans with a few faunus scattered amongst them, now what people they saw on the streets mostly bore signs of faunus heritage. When she asked Sun about it, he grimaced.

"Worse part of town," he said simply. "Trust me, this is not the world's greatest neighborhood. Housing's way cheaper here, and it has a reputation for unsavory characters."

It made sense as far as the location for an illegal fighting tournament went, but it still made Blake feel uneasy. Not because she was worried for her own protection, but because seeing so many faunus forced to live in the worst parts of a city reminded her of the reasons she'd joined up with the White Fang in the first place. Inequality like this, social discrimination on this kind of scale, these were the things she'd always wanted to fight. Things she still wanted to fight.

It was just one more thing Adam had taken from her. He hadn't been the first to offer the idea of extremist tactics to the White Fang, but he was one of its loudest proponents. When the old leader had stepped down and the new one had taken his place, Adam rose swiftly to power. Power he wielded swiftly and indiscriminately.

The night he'd received command of the White Fang's Vale forces was burned forever into her memory.

 ******* _Blake was sitting in bed when he entered. He shouldn't have been here. She'd already told him it wasn't going to happen. She'd told him a long time ago that there was nothing more to be said between them. She rose, and tried to make him leave, but he was stronger than her. He always had been._

 _He reeked of alcohol._

 _When she'd pushed him, he'd hit her. He must have drawn from his aura because it sent her staggering backwards. She called her own, ready to defend herself, but he just laughed._

" _Do you seriously believe you're a match for me?" he growled. "Things are changing, Blake. We're getting everything we ever wanted. Siena Khan is the future of our species. And I will be right there, the vanguard of a new world, with my queen at my side."_

" _Adam, please," she'd begged as he approached her, his steps unsteady. "You're not yourself. You need to go back to your quarters, sleep it off, I-" he cut her off, his mouth on hers. It was a rough kiss, harsh. He wrapped one arm around her waist, the other gripping her painfully by the arm. Try as she might, she couldn't escape his iron grasp._

 _She bit his tongue instead, and he shouted in pain. He lashed out, striking her again and harder this time. She collapsed onto the bed and he glared at her through the slits of that terrible mask. She tasted blood on her lips, his and her own._

" _Please, Adam, just go. We can forget this ever happened, we can just go back to the way things were…" he was still in there, wasn't he? The boy she'd grown up with? Her mentor? Her best friend? Surely he would see, he would save her, just like he always had._

 _For an instant, it seemed like he might leave, like he might walk away and let this night just become a terrible nightmare._

 _Then he was on her, and she screamed as he covered her mouth with his hand. "You ungrateful bitch," he snarled. "After everything I've given you, you still deny me what is rightfully mine? I_ made _you Blake Belladonna. I love you. And you love me too."_

 _She struggled against him, drawing every ounce of strength she could, beating against his arms and chest, but to no avail. He only laughed at her._

" _You don't know what you are, Blake," he growled. "How could you? You_ do _love me Blake, you just don't know it yet. But you will…"_

 _He'd uncovered her mouth, his hands tearing at her clothes. She screamed. "Wait! Please, Adam, wait!" She was hysterical, panicking._

 _He stopped. It was just an instant, a mere hesitation, but he stopped. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She could feel his fingers digging into her flesh, feel the air on her skin through the rips in her clothes. She could only think of one thing to do, revulsion making her stomach roll as she tried to gather her courage. Blake reached up and caressed his cheek._

" _Y-y-you're right. Adam, you're so, s-so right. I-I-I've been l-lying to y-you. I didn't….I couldn't...I…" her throat had seized up, and for a moment, she thought she'd be unable to finish the sentence without retching, but she forced it out. "I love you." She felt bile rise in her throat. He felt his fingers caress her, harsh grasps turning to gentle strokes against her bared skin. She shuddered as they moved to take her more intimately._

" _W-wait, please, Adam I…" his fingers dug into her and she cried out in pain. She pushed onwards just the same. "I need t-time. Please, I've never...I haven't...J-j-just give me t-time, okay? P-please, that's all I a-ask." She knew what she had to do to sell it. She hated herself, hated him, but she was too scared to do anything else. She eased herself up off the bed and kissed him. It was tentative, barely anything, but it was all she could manage._

 _Besides, he made up for it with his own enthusiasm. His kiss was aggressive, forceful. She felt the weight of him on top of her as he pressed himself into her. She felt his teeth tugging at her lip and it was all she could do not to scream. When he parted, he was smiling._

" _My Queen," he'd said, softly, his fingers caressing her cheek. "My love…"_

 _He'd left her alone that night, and Blake had cried herself to sleep, curled in a ball, unable to move, unable to do anything but hate herself._

 _It was the first time she'd ever told anybody she loved them._ *******

"Blake, you still with me?" Sun was looking at her, concern easily apparent on his face.

Blake realized she'd been muttering under her breath. " _A Man with Two Souls_ , _The Lost River_ , _World of Night_ , _Gold and Glory…_ " she trailed off, shaking her head. Her eyes were dry, thankfully, but her stomach felt ill and her hands were trembling. "Still here," she said, taking stock of where they'd wandered to. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"

"Think so," Sun replied. They were in a much more industrial part of town now, surprisingly not unlike the freight yard that had been her first impression of Vacuo City. The block closest to them was dominated by an enormous factory with several huge smokestacks billowing black smoke into the air. Beyond that was a warehouse district, where several faunus operating heavy machines moved crates from location to location.

"Please tell me we're not going to another meeting in a warehouse," Blake groaned as she watched the workers and tried to figure out how difficult it would be to sneak into one of the large buildings.

"We're not," Sun assured her. "Address is for that building there."

They rounded the corner and Sun pointed at the building in question. It was an apartment complex, but one of the most dilapidated ones that Blake had ever seen. The brick work was crumbling and cracked in several places, and the fire escape was rusted and appeared to have chunks taken out of the metal stairs. They approached the front door and Blake saw a buzzer next to it. Each name beside the respective residence was blank.

Sun checked the address again, then reached out and pushed one of the buttons.

"Your name?" a voice with a Menagerie accent asked over the intercom.

"Scarlet Ayana and Amber Azalea," Sun said.

There was a pause, then the voice spoke again. "You're right on schedule!" Whoever was on the other side of the speaker sounded pleasant enough, excitable even. It was a little jarring given their surroundings. "I'll buzz you in." Blake twitched her ears and felt a small twinge of recognition.

"Thanks!" Sun said as the door let out a loud metallic buzz. Sun opened the door and they stepped inside the cramped, filthy staircase.

"Well, this place is horrible, but at least our supervisor seems nice," he said as they made their way up the stairs to the third floor.

"I guess," Blake mused. Why had she sounded so familiar?

"Something on your mind?" the boy asked as the stepped onto their landing.

Blake shrugged and flicked her ear like she was trying to ward off a pesky fly. "I'm sure it's nothing. We should just focus on making a good impression," she said and opened the door. The room inside was surprisingly clean given the state of the rest of the building, and furnished comfortably, if modestly.

The pair shut the door behind them and walked further into the room. Blake stared around her, taking in anything she could. Her eyes fell on a picture sitting on a bookshelf in the corner of the room. The picture prominently featured a girl, who must have also been the photographer from the way her arms were held. She had long brown hair that fell to the small of her back and a pair of long bunny's ears on top of her head that disappeared out of frame. She was surrounded by people, a dark skinned boy with wild red hair and eyes clouded white with cataracts, another boy with close cropped dark hair who hunched over awkwardly to fit his massive frame in the shot, and a girl wearing a beret and a pair of designer sunglasses.

Suddenly, Blake understood why she recognized the voice over the intercom.

"We have to leave, now," she said, turning away from the picture.

She came face-to-face with the photographer. Her huge brown eyes were wide with shock. She wore the standard uniform for the White Fang, the under armour beneath a white armored tunic, and she had a brown box trimmed with bronze at the small of her back. Her hand went to her mouth.

" _Blake_?"

"Velvet."

"Wait, you two know each-" Sun was interrupted by a flurry of movement. Blake drew Gambol Shroud with a swift motion and launched herself at the other girl. There was a flash of light and Velvet countered the thrust, holding something that at least resembled a sword. It was more like a glowing blue wire-frame version, but it turned aside Blake's blade just the same. Blake tried to turn her momentum into another attack, but she was answered by a swift parry followed by a devastatingly powerful kick to the chest that sent her careening over an armchair and crashing to the ground. She hadn't had the presence of mind to draw on her Aura for protection, and hitting the floor head first had left her dizzy.

"Hey!" Sun cried out, his own weapon now in his hands. "I don't know what the hell's going on here, but you better back off lady!"

There was another flash of light, and suddenly Velvet held a wire-frame pistol in her hand, trained on Sun. "No sudden movements, got it?" Sun just stood there, dumbfounded. Velvet made her way cautiously around the chair and knelt down next to Blake, who managed to focus her eyes enough to look up at her.

"You're in a lot of trouble Blake Belladonna," she said.

* * *

Yang threw herself forwards with a shout, driving towards her opponent and arresting the momentum Emerald had been steadily clawing at for the last few seconds. Yang raised her left forearm, the gunmetal steel gauntlet that she wore deflecting one of the sickles Emerald wielded. There was a shower of sparks as steel met steel, and before Emerald could recover, Yang drove her golden right arm drove straight for her opponent's exposed stomach. Emerald exhaled as the wind was driven out of her, and Yang brought the bout to a swift end, her knee coming up and impacting against the other girl's face in a way that should have left her with a bloody broken nose.

Instead it just left her sprawled out on the mat, her eyes somewhat unfocused as she tried to recover her bearings. Yang twisted her left wrist and felt as the gauntlet she wore retracted itself into a bracelet. The gauntlet had been a gift from Cinder when they'd arrived in Vacuo. People would be bringing weapons to this tournament, most of them bladed, and being a bare-knuckle fighter like Yang would open her up to some severe disadvantages if she didn't have a way to defend herself against them. Even with her Aura protecting her, it never hurt to have a few ways to block sharp objects that weren't her bare skin. Anything that would keep her in the fight longer.

Yang reached out her right arm to Emerald where she lay on the ground. The other girl glanced at it uneasily, but took it nonetheless. Yang pulled her to her feet, relishing the strength of her new limb in the moments before she dismissed it. She'd had to learn a lot about Aura in the two weeks it had taken for them to arrive in Vacuo and travel through the desert to the city itself. From what Cinder told her, Aura was something like a pool of energy you could draw from. Most of that energy was usually spent protecting oneself, projecting it outwards like a shield. The rest could be drawn on to enhance your speed and strength. It had been the reason she'd been so obviously outclassed in their first few bouts.

To her amusement, however, Cinder had refused to spar against Yang ever since she ignited her Aura, pairing her against Emerald and Mercury instead. Of the two, Mercury was the stronger opponent, though his fighting style focused heavily on kicks with those steel boots of his. Emerald fought with her sickles, which made for better practice for the weapons she would face in the tournament.

As far as she could tell, their mastery of Aura was limited to those basic uses Cinder had mentioned. Yang's had to be more than that. Her new arm drew from that same pool of energy everything else did, and while it was just as strong as it had ever been - stronger in fact, thanks in now small part to her newfound skills - it wasn't terribly dextrous, and maintaining it when she wasn't fighting took a considerable amount of concentration.

"I thought I had you for once," Emerald said, sulking. "I must have hit you a half dozen times at least."

She wasn't wrong. Yang glanced at the rips in her fatigues and the red marks on her skin where her Aura had turned what should have been a gaping wound into a bad scratch. She just shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't even notice most of them."

Emerald rolled her eyes. "I don't see how you were able to stay that strong. Not with as much punishment as you took."

"Not everybody wields their Aura the same way," Cinder said from where she was perched on a large wooden crate. The three of them were in a warehouse that they'd turned into a makeshift sparring arena. Yang had been training every day here since they arrived in the city. The tournament would start that night, in a nearby factory that was being donated to the cause when the workers went home.

Emerald frowned. "It's still a resource, right? So she has to run out of it eventually." She glared at Yang. The blonde girl just grinned back at her.

"You think of it too academically Emerald," Cinder purred, sliding off the box and approaching the two girls. She was in her not-a-dress with the gold embroidery again. "Remember that Aura, first and foremost, is an expression of our souls. Of ourselves. Just as you have your gifts, so it would seem, does our dear Miss Xiao Long."

"Gifts? What is she talking about?" Yang was intrigued now.

Emerald shifted her glare to Cinder, but it lost several degrees of heat as she did so, and eventually melted into something more like embarrassment. "I thought you said not to mention that ma'am," she said.

Cinder smiled and touched her gently on the shoulder. It was enough to send a shiver down the other girl's spine. "Come now, I think Yang has earned our trust, don't you? Why don't you give her a little demonstration of your own talents."

Emerald swallowed and nodded. She stared at Yang for a moment, her eyes shifting out of focus. Yang thought she heard a sound, something at the very edge of her hearing. Then, Emerald and Cinder were gone.

In their place, was her sister, Ruby.

Yang felt tears in her eyes. Confusion was drowned in an instant by heartache, guilt and the kind of joy she thought she'd forgotten a long time ago. She moved to embrace her, to fold her up in her arms and never let her go again, but before she could, logic came crashing back around her.

Ruby couldn't be here. This couldn't be real.

"Sorry Yang," Ruby said, but she spoke with Emerald's voice. "This is my gift. I can make people see the things I want them to see. I can make them hear the things I want them to hear."

Ruby vanished, and her companions stood where she had been. Yang's chest felt tight. Her eyes were burning.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Emerald smirked. "You shouldn't have tried to break my-" she was cut off as Yang grabbed her by her jacket and hauled her into the air.

"Stay the hell out of my head, _got it_?" Flames ran through her hair, bathing the both of them in an orange glow.

"Yang." Cinder spoke calmly, but deliberately. "Put her down."

Yang hesitated, but did as she was told, dropping the older girl and stepping away from her.

"I need you two on the same side," Cinder said. "Remember, these are dangerous people we're planning on dealing with. If we're fighting amongst ourselves, it will only make our jobs that much harder."

Yang tried to quell her flaring temper, but even if things had been better for the past few weeks, she still found herself hard pressed to keep a cool head when she was provoked. And Emerald's vision had definitely hit a nerve.

"If we're all supposed to be on the same side, then why the hell do I still not know what this plan is?" she barked. "All you've told me so far is that I'm going to fight a bunch of people and scam a ton of money. Any other details that _might_ be pertinent for me to know ahead of time?"

Cinder and Emerald shared a look. "I apologize Yang," Cinder said, "but I decided that it would be best if we waited until the tournament was about to begin before telling you who exactly our mark is. I felt it could interfere with your training if you knew.

"But you're right," she continued when Yang opened her mouth to protest, "you deserve to know what it is we're planning. You see, this tournament is being hosted by an organization. An organization that has a desperate need for money, and precious few ways to raise it without drawing attention to themselves."

Yang might not have been the best student at Beacon, but she wasn't dumb either. "The White Fang," she said clenching her fist reflexively.

Cinder nodded. "Precisely. They've done their best to distance themselves from this event, even going so far as to hire outside security and allowing sympathetic parties to run the day-to-day operations, but rest assured, at the end of the day, they will be the ones who stand to gain the most."

"If you think I'm going to fight just to line the pockets of the lunatics who attacked my school and murdered my friend, you have lost your fucking mind." Yang saw Emerald take a few steps back as heat poured from Yang, her eyes glowing like embers.

Not that it seemed to phase Cinder. "Of course not," she said, her voice soothing. "You're not the only person the White Fang has wronged, after all. No Yang, this isn't about lining their pockets. It's about puncturing their wallets." The flames around Yang died down, and Cinder smiled.

"You're not just going to fight in their tournament. You're going to be _invincible_. This tournament will become a showcase of your skill, of your abilities. A scrappy, one-armed girl who can perform _miracles_ , who not even the strongest fighters can stand against. Meanwhile, Mercury and Emerald will be doing what they do best; bleeding the crowds, siphoning what money they can where they can, and keeping the odds stacked in your favor. Then, on the final night of the tournament, when the White Fang stands to make their biggest score ever, well, let's just say the house is going to lose. Everything."

Yang considered what she was saying. "You want me to throw the match."

"The last match, precisely." There was a hungry gleam in Cinder's eyes now. "Who would believe their invincible girl could be bested? Who would be betting against you? Certainly not the White Fang, not when somebody can convince them they could easily triple or quadruple their profits on a sure thing."

"Nobody would believe it wasn't rigged," Yang said.

Cinder's smile widened. "Of course not. Which is why our own agents will be slowly spreading word about the White Fang's involvement and hosting of the tournament. Then, when you throw the match…"

"It will look like _they_ planned it," Yang said. "So not only do I have to fight in this thing, I have to keep my mouth shut about hating the White Fang."  
"If anything, praising them and their tactics might do wonders for us later on," Cinder confirmed.

Yang shook her head. "I don't know if I can do that."

Cinder's smile faltered slightly, her eyes narrowing. "You don't have a choice, I'm afraid," she said. "I've invested too much into you. Time. Effort. This is how you will be paying me back."

Yang glared at her, but she didn't argue. It was true, Cinder had given her so much already. More than just training. She'd given Yang direction, a way to move on. She was still angry, a lot actually, but she found she could enjoy life a little more. She could smile once in a while. Maybe she could even be normal again some day. Without Cinder's help, she might have still been getting beat up for next to no profits in one of Junior's fight clubs.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Cinder's smile returned. "Wonderful."

The door to the warehouse opened with a rusty groan. The three women looked up as Mercury walked in with his usual cocky swagger. He was carrying a package under his arm. "Delivery for a Miss Xiao Long," he said, holding the box out to her. "I really wish you wouldn't have me working as a middleman for our 'courier,'" he said with a sarcastic edge on the title. "That guy creeps me out. Never stops giggling to himself. I swear, he was in stitches handing over the stupid box."

Cinder shrugged. "We don't always have the luxury of choosing our allies," she said, "but he does have his uses." She turned her focus back to Yang. "Go on, open it."

It took some work, but Yang managed to fumble the box open one-handedly. Inside was a metal cap, nearly identical to the one she wore. It wasn't marked like hers was, the guilded steel still looked pristine and unblemished. It had the same straps on it that would attach it to her bicep.

She looked up, confused. "What do I need this for?"

Cinder gestured to Emerald, who moved beside Yang and started to remove the cap she currently wore.

"Your last lesson," Cinder said with a knowing smirk.

* * *

"So, um, how do you two know each other?"

Blake couldn't help herself this time. She drove the heel of her boot down on Sun's toe, making him cry out in pain.

"What was that for?"

"Just shut up for once, okay?"

The two of them were seated on the couch in the apartment, their hands zip-tied in front of them, their weapons across the room on the floor. Velvet had been pacing the floor in front of them for a solid ten minutes, tapping out messages furiously on her scroll.

"Look, I'm tired of sitting here, okay? If you two know each other, you can talk this out, right?"

Velvet glared at the two of them, snapping her scroll shut and shoving it in a pocket. "There's nothing to talk about," she said. "Blake, you were a known associate of the White Fang before you came to Beacon University. We were willing to let that go, since our intelligence indicated you left before the group's more violent acts, but returning to them after the attack on Beacon is something I cannot ignore."

"What the fuck are you even talking about?" Blake said. "You're a student! You, Fox, Coco, Yatsuhashi, you guys were _students_ with us! Now apparently you've run a background check on me and you're some high-ranking member of the White Fang? And somehow _I'm_ the traitor?"

Velvet's usually kind brown eyes were intense with her fury. She had never seen the faunus girl like this before. She was older than Blake by two years, but she'd always been shy and soft-spoken. Blake never would have expected she could hold her own in a fight, much less that she would have ever run off to join the White Fang.

"Yes!" Velvet said, stamping her foot. " _You're_ the traitor Blake! And I swear to every god that lives I will make sure you are punished for what you did."

"Then why don't you just go ahead and call him?" Blake was nearly hysterical now. "Call him, tell him where I am!"

"Would the two of you just listen to each other for one-"

"Shut up!" the girls said to Sun in unison.

"No! Okay, I am NOT going to shut up!" Sun was on his feet now, and in a flash, Velvet had that strange looking gun in her hand trained on him.

"If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me," he said, "but just hear me out first, okay?" Velvet stared at him suspiciously, but she lowered her weapon a fraction of an inch.

"Look, you guys are both super pissed seeing each other here, right?" The two girls glanced at each other, but otherwise said nothing. "Well, think about it, okay? If you were both actually White Fang, you wouldn't be pissed to see each other. If anything, you'd be happy because, you know, you're both secret-agent informer types, right?"

Blake thought about it a minute. Sun wasn't wrong about that.

Sensing that he had made a point, Sun pushed onward. "So, that means, the only reason you'd be pissed to see each other here is if neither one of you _wanted_ to see the other person here. Which means neither one of you can possibly _really_ be with the White Fang, or at least one of you would be happy to see that the other one joined up!"

There was a long pause as Blake considered the strange train of logic that seemed to be a Sun Wukong specialty. There was a certain sense to what he was saying. She looked at Velvet, whose eyes were flicking back and forth between the two of them, seemingly deep in thought.

Finally Velvet let her arm fall and the wire-frame pistol vanished. "Is it weird that I think I understood what he was saying?" she asked Blake.

Blake exhaled slowly, trying to slow her thundering heart rate. The tension in the room felt like it was starting to ease up a little. "No, it's okay. I get it."

It was like somebody threw a switch on Velvet. In an instant, she went from cool, commanding and intimidating to her usual shy, awkward self. She apologized frantically as she fetched Gambol Shroud and used it to cut their ties before returning both of their weapons.

"I'm sorry Blake, but with your background…we've suspected that the White Fang might have had collaborators at Beacon for a while, and when I saw you were here I just assumed…"

"Back up a step," Blake said, trying to wrap her head around the situation. "Who's 'we'? How did you know about my involvement with the White Fang? How did you even know I was a faunus?" Back at Beacon, she'd worn a black ribbon tied into a bow around her cat's ears to disguise herself. "Do they just hand out dossiers on all the students to third-years?"

Velvet looked embarrassed. "It's...kind of a long story. What do you two know about Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"They're myths," Sun said, "stories people tell, like the stories about the Grimm."

Blake shook her head. "They used to be, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are still real. Nowadays, they're the members of Vale's covert special forces unit."

Sun cocked an eyebrow, and Blake shrugged. "The White Fang had more than a few encounters with them before I left."

Velvet gave Blake a long look, but nodded. "Right. They receive highly specialized training, and their members are recruited from Vale's most prestigious university."

"Beacon," Sun said. He was clearly trying to take all of this in stride, with only partial success.

Blake, on the other hand, was doing a much better job at keeping up. "You're...a Huntress?"

"Huntress in training," Velvet corrected her.

"Who else?" Blake asked.

Velvet gestured to the picture behind her. "All of us. Fox is the reason we were recruited in the first place." Blake stared at the dark-skinned redhead in the picture. "His mother was a Huntress too. Fox was born blind, so she taught him some tricks of the trade as it were to help him cope."

"She helped him activate his Aura," Blake said, putting pieces of the puzzle in place.

"Yes," Velvet said. If she was surprised by Blake's knowledge of the subject, she didn't let it show on her face, though she shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "We met during initiation, the four of us. Fox was recruited thanks to his connections and his aptitude, and the rest of us were offered the opportunity to join as the year went on."

"That's how you knew about my involvement in the White Fang," Blake said. "You were, what, assigned to keep tabs on me?" Her ears flattened indignantly.

"Not exactly," Velvet said, her expression sheepish, but unapologetic. "It's our job to keep people safe, to protect against any potential threat. That included former members of a terrorist organization who might try to be infiltrating the school."

Blake blushed, but it was Sun who spoke up first. "If you really knew Blake at all, you'd know she'd never do anything to hurt a student at Beacon! We're only here now because she's trying to get somewhere the White Fang would never look for her!"

"Sun!" Blake said, whirling on him, but Velvet looked pensive at his outburst.

"I suppose it's not the worst idea," she admitted. "But it's risky. You might have never worked with the faction of the White Fang in Vacuo, but that doesn't mean somebody couldn't recognize you. Especially with how close you were to some of the organization's most powerful players."

Blake was very uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was heading and decided to steer it elsewhere. "So you're a Huntress-in-training. That means that this job is an assignment?"

Velvet nodded. "I was assigned to go undercover with the White Fang after Beacon fell. My age and faunus heritage made me uniquely qualified to join up as a militant youth, inspired by the statement the White Fang made when they attacked during the Vytal Festival. When I found out about the tournament, they told me and my partner, Yatsuhashi, to try and figure out where the money was going to go. I've been working hard to get where I am, to make sure I'm useful enough and trusted enough that I can sit in on some of the meetings the leadership have."

Blake thought about her partner. She couldn't have said she knew him well. He didn't talk a lot, but he was built like a tree and at nearly seven feet tall, he certainly left an impression. He was also unmistakably a human. "So how is Yatsuhashi supposed to help if he can't infiltrate the White Fang like you?"

"He's entering the tournament," Velvet explained. "It'll keep him close enough to protect me if something goes wrong. Not that I can't protect myself," she added hastily. "But our mentor didn't want any of us going off on a mission like this alone."

There was a pause as Blake tried to absorb all of the new information. Velvet secretly being a Huntress was perhaps the most difficult pill to swallow, but the rest of her team at least seemed to fit the profile better. Fox, like Yatsuhashi, was quiet and intimidating in his own way, even if he didn't have the same gargantuan stature. And Coco, the ringleader of their little group, always carried herself with a calm, easy confidence that was impossible to ignore. Trying to imagine how she fought in the designer boots and outfits she wore on a regular basis, however, was another story.

Again, Sun was the one to break the silence. "Well, this is great! If we're all on the same page, Blake and I can totally help you take down the White Fang! We can keep our ears to the ground too, and tell you everything we hear."

Blake groaned, and Velvet looked skeptical. "Look, I don't mean any disrespect, but the two of you aren't trained like me and Yatsu are. The people we're dealing with are dangerous, and I don't want you two getting hurt."

"Pu-leez," Sun said, dismissing her concerns with a wave of his hand. "We can handle ourselves! I'm a pretty good fighter myself, and Blake here-"

"Sun! Velvet said she didn't want our help." So much of this had already gone so wrong. "Maybe it would just be better for us to go," she said. "We can find a different place to lay low for a while, get out from under the nose of the White Fang. It was always a risk coming here anyways."

"Where exactly are we supposed to go with no money?" Sun asked. "We're broke, remember? Besides, I doubt it'd be good for Velvet's cover if the security team she's supposed to be supervising just vanishes the same day the tournament's supposed to start."

Velvet looked like she hadn't considered that. She bit her lip and started pacing again, nervous this time rather than agitated. "He's not wrong. As much as I hate to admit it, I need you two to stick around. The job should pay you well enough to get yourselves back to Vale, or Menagerie or wherever it is you want to go, but if I don't have a team, my odds at getting any kind of relevant information are virtually zero." She sighed and rubbed her temple. "In fact, I'm supposed to be showing you the scheduled fights now, all the supervisors got the brackets an hour ago. Then we're supposed to go to a briefing where we'll have all the security protocols laid out for us and they'll tell us which shifts we work."

"So just do what you're supposed to do. Blake and I will play along, we'll keep our noses clean. We can't get hurt if no actual fighting breaks out, right?" he asked with a ten thousand watt smile.

Blake still felt uneasy about the idea of going through with their plan, but if backing out meant putting her friend in danger, she didn't see that she had much choice. Velvet seemed to agree with her.

"Alright, fine. But when I say take no risks, I mean take no risks. Don't ask any questions. Don't go snooping around. You hear something, that's fine, but under no circumstances are the two of you to do anything other than your jobs, got it?" The intimidating air of command was back. Blake thought privately that it suited her.

They both agreed, and Velvet ducked into the other room to retrieve an unopened envelope.

"Here's the bracket," she said, breaking the seal and sliding a single sheet of paper out of it. She glanced over it quickly. "Looks like Yatsu's in the first fight tonight," she said. Suddenly, she froze, her ears sticking up perfectly straight and still. Her eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

Velvet never looked up from the page in front of her. "Blake...who else did you come to Vacuo with?"

Blake's ears twitched. "Just Sun. There is no one else."

"So you're saying, as far as you're concerned, nobody else you know is in Vacuo right now?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Velvet, what's going on? Why the sudden interrogation?" Blake felt a deep sense of foreboding, though she couldn't have said why. Velvet handed her the bracket.

"Because, I recognize Yatsu's first opponent."

Blake stared at the paper, her heart hammering in her chest. Disbelief and denial fought desperately with the evidence presented to her. She couldn't be here. It wasn't possible. Yet there it was, clear as day, written on the two lines marking the first round.

Yatsuhashi Daichi vs. Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

Yang made her way through the crowd of people, the heat from the room making her swelter beneath her long leather coat. She hadn't wanted to wear it, but Cinder had loved Emerald's re-telling of her reveal back in Vale, and she'd wanted to recreate some of the theatrics tonight. Of course, aside from the outfit she wore, this night couldn't have been more different than the night she fought in Junior's club.

For starters, the space made Junior's place look like the dingy hole in the wall it was. The factory floor was massive, with heavy machinery lining the walls. Equipment had been shoved aside to make room for a constructed stage that stood elevated in the center of the room. The stage wasn't ringed, and it was high enough up that falling was a dangerous prospect on its own. The fluorescent lights overhead had been shut off, and different, more focused lights had been brought in and hung from the ceiling. Like back in Vale, these more targeted lights served to illuminate the main event, while bathing the rest of the floor in shadows. It also kept Yang from seeing the upper balcony clearly. It ringed the factory floor, obviously the kind of place where the factory managers could keep an eye on things without having to worry about being in the way. She knew from Cinder that the security teams would be keeping to themselves up there, out of sight, but always watching. If she tried hard enough, she could see the shadows moving.

Yang decided it wasn't worth the effort, and she shifted her attention to taking in the room around her instead. A booth had been set up on the far side of the floor, and she recognized Mercury's silver hair above the heads of the crowd. He'd be working his magic apparently, talking up her opponent and spreading the "insider knowledge" about her own injury that would help tip the odds more against her. If the crowd lost big on the first night, Cinder said, they'd be hungry for more as time went on. It was all about whipping up a frenzy while creating the narrative they wanted to tell. People loved a good story.

And in order to tell a good story, Yang had to win her first fight. She approached the stage with Emerald trailing behind her and ascended the ladder that had been put in place to assist her. As she took the stage, there were a few shouts of approval and some scattered applause as the attention in the room gradually turned towards her. From her vantage point, she could see the last constructed object in the room - a raised stage with some mismatched chairs and tables where important guests were seated and served some refreshment. Yang could make out Cinder amongst the seated individuals, as well as a couple in the full-faced Grimm masks worn by the White Fang's upper echelon of leadership.

She heard the ladder creak behind her as Emerald followed her up. "So, where's my opponent?" Yang asked her, red eyes darting between the faces that she could only barely make out in the darkness. She was ready. Her muscles were burning with the desire to fight, to lash out. She wanted to test her new power against whatever this tournament had to offer.

Emerald gazed around with her, then narrowed her eyes, nudging Yang and gesturing towards the other side of the crowd. A man a full head and shoulders above most of the others was making his way towards them. He climbed his own ladder until he stood on stage, huge and menacing in the harsh light. When his eyes met Yang's, he squinted in disbelief. Yang raised her eyebrows. She recognized him. His enormous frame, his close cropped dark hair, and his dusty skin.

"Yatsuhashi? You're one of Velvet's friends, right?" She'd known Velvet better than her partner, but he was kind of a hard guy to forget. "I can honestly say I never expected to see anybody I knew out here."

"I would say the same. What are you doing here, Yang? This is a dangerous place." He spoke in a resonant baritone that was easy to hear over the increasing noise of the crowd. The energy was definitely beginning to pick up.

"You're one to talk," she shot back with a cocky smile. Not that he looked like he couldn't handle himself. He wore brown fatigues, not so unlike Yang's own, and a black tank top beneath a green tunic, belted at the waist with a thick brown belt that had a couple of pouches hanging from it. The tunic cut across his chest, leaving his left arm exposed...or it would have if he wasn't wearing an enormous spaulder, the metal colored to match his tunic. The armor covered halfway down his forearm, and he wore matching green metal wrist guards on each wrist. To top it all off, he had an enormous curved sword on his back, more like a giant cleaver than anything else. It was edged along the curve and ended in a long hilt that almost resembled a haft of a spear more than a traditional sword's hilt.

"You should go. This isn't like one of your fights back at Beacon. You won't find any victory in this arena." His expression was solemn, apparently having recovered from the shock of seeing her.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Please, if you think I'm going to be scared off that easily, you've got another thing coming. Too much money to be made here." She thought about throwing out a line about how the White Fang was going to make her rich, but the thought of mentioning it in front of somebody she knew, somebody who had been there when those monsters had attacked...she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She was surprised at the angry expression that flickered across her opponent's face at her words. "There is so much more than money at stake here," he said, "but if I cannot make you see reason, then please understand that I will not go easy on you."

Yang felt her own fire kindle to life inside of her. "I've heard that before," she said with a low growl.

At her response, the crowd began to cheer in earnest. They smelled a grudge match coming on, even if none of them understood the context. Hell, Yang wasn't even sure she understood the context, but she never backed down from a challenge. She rolled her shoulders back, and Emerald took her coat and slipped it off her, revealing her missing arm topped with the shiny new cap. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, though thanks to Mercury, it wasn't nearly so prominent as it might have been otherwise. Emerald draped the coat over one arm and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Good luck," she whispered to her with a sly smile, and Yang glanced at her, fire burning in her eyes.

"I don't believe in luck," she said, loud enough for the crowd to hear before kissing the older girl on the lips. It was part of the act. The persona. Brash, arrogant, flirty...and entirely confident in her own abilities.

So, basically the old Yang. She could fake that.

She was surprised to see Emerald blush as she pulled back. It was an interesting look on her. Yang made the decision to experiment further as she turned back towards Yatsuhashi. His eyes remained focused on her injured arm as she paced towards the center of the arena.

"What's the matter big guy? No qualms hitting a girl, but you're scared of a cripple?" The crowd seemed to like that and they laughed with her as Yatsuhashi raised his eyes to meet her.

He didn't say a word, but he did draw that enormous sword of his, holding it in a low grip in his right hand. Yang's smile grew wider, and she twisted her left wrist, engaging the gauntlet she wore and feeling it expand to cover her forearm and her knuckles. As the two squared off, a voice came over the factory's PA system.

"Welcome one and all, honored guests and miscreants alike! Welcome to Vacuo Underground!" Yang instantly didn't like the man that spoke. He sounded oily, and far too pleased with himself. The crowd loved him, though, roaring at his welcome. "My name is Fennec Albion, and I will be one of your announcers for this event. Now then, as a reminder to our combatants, as well as all who are looking to profit off of tonight's events, I'll briefly go over the rules of combat.

"All fights will continue, uninterrupted until one participant is incapacitated, knocked from the arena, or they forfeit by means of tapping out. The use of weapons and armor have been allowed for this tournament with the sole exception of firearms." Yang noticed, as Cinder had pointed out, that Dust had not been banned from use. Afterall, if guns weren't allowed in combat, what use would Dust-based ammunition be? She smirked to herself.

"Though lethal force is highly discouraged, and our security team will do its best to end a match before any perceived lethal blows," Fennec continued, "please be aware that death does count as incapacitation, and therefore, a knockout for the sake of standings later in the tournament."

The room went quiet at that, but not out of dread, more out of an electric sort of excitement. Nobody in this room would lose a wink of sleep seeing a little bloodshed. Yang steeled herself. She had her Aura to protect her. She was going to be fine.

Besides, she had a trick up her sleeve.

Fennec paused to let the mood ripen before finishing his speech. "Well, I think that just about covers everything. We are ready to commence with our first bout of the tournament: Yatsuhashi Daichi, versus, Yang Xiao Long. Combatants, at the ready!"

Yang dropped into her stance. Yatsuhashi lowered his own center of gravity and took his sword in both hands.

"At the sound of the buzzer, the match will begin! Three! Two! One!"

There was the space of a heartbeat between his count and the buzzer. Yang gathered herself.

The buzzer rang out, and she attacked. She launched towards Yatsuhashi, a single bound that took her all the way to him, her left arm drawn back. She cried out as she drove her fist towards him, only for the sound of steel against steel to ring out as the flat of his blade moved to intercept the blow. He shoved her away almost effortlessly and brought his sword up to guard. Yang stumbled backwards, but recovered. He moved fast, and as he advanced towards her, she noticed he was surprisingly light on his feet for someone his size.

He brought the sword down on her in an overhand blow that she rolled to dodge. He let the blade ricochet off the ground and he changed momentum on a dime, swinging it in a flat arc that would have caught her on her right shoulder. She bent backwards, catching herself on her left arm as the enormous blade sailed over her. She pushed herself upright as he brought his sword back to guard and she backed off a little. Something wasn't right. His attacks were quick and graceful but...telegraphed? As though he wanted her to know where each blow was coming from.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you wouldn't go easy on me?" The crowd seemed to like that.

Yatsuhashi gritted his teeth. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Then quit." She didn't give him a chance to respond. She rushed him again, feinting one way before spinning around his guard and delivering a swift kick to the middle of his back that sent him staggering forwards across the stage.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with Yang," he said. "I cannot lose."

"That makes two of us, big guy," she said advancing again, getting inside his enormous reach where his sword would be less useful. She caught the edge of it against her metal gauntlet and turned it aside before bringing the steel cap of her right arm up to smash against his chin. He reeled back, but as she moved in to press the attack, he lashed out with a powerful kick that sent her sailing back. She hit the ground and rolled dangerously close to the edge before she stopped herself. She stood up, brushing herself off.

The crowd went nuts at that. Though they seemed to have taken a liking to Yang, it was obvious where most of their money was placed tonight, and seeing Yatsuhashi finally land a solid blow begun to stir their frenzy once more.

Yang couldn't help but feel slightly rattled. He was _strong_ when he was trying. And unfortunately, Yang had a feeling he was about to start trying a lot harder.

Fine. So would she.

She inhaled and reached for her Aura, feeling its searing heat envelop her. She controlled it, not wanting to give away anything yet, but she began the exercises Cinder had taught her. She channeled it up from her chest and down her right arm, imagining a knot of it where her arm ended. She brushed against the new cap and what was concealed within it.

She brought her arms up and moved towards Yatsuhashi. His face was stone, his sword held with purpose.

"Last chance Yang. Please. Walk away from this."

"Not an option."

He sighed. "Very well."

Then he struck.

The blow wasn't telegraphed, it was a viper's strike. If the viper in question was a giant goddamned broadsword. Yang could only react by drawing from her Aura, raising her left arm to intercept the blow. Steel rang out as she staggered backwards, feeling a ripple of flame pass through her as her Aura absorbed the energy. But the attack was the first of many, and soon Yang found herself desperately trying to intercept blow after blow, throwing herself out of the way of the massive weapon when she could. He wasn't as fast as Mercury had been in their sparring matches, which was her only saving grace, but tanking a blow of his took far more effort than she was used to. His strength was incredible. He had to be trained, like her, like Emerald and Mercury. There was no other explanation.

But she would not give up. She'd come too far to fail now. She saw her opportunity as he swung at her with a heavy overhand blow. She reached up and crossed her arms, unleashing her Aura as she did, her golden arm manifesting itself as the blade hit the X it formed with her steel gauntlet. She groaned as he pressed down against her, his strength nearly forcing her to her knees. It was going to be now or never.

She twisted her right arm, the cap telescoping open to reveal a red crystal set into the metal. She guided the knot of gathered energy at the base of her arm and focused it through the crystal, the Burn Dust glowing as she did.

" _Dust and Aura are two parts of a whole," Cinder had told her. "We were made to utilize it. It's part of us, as we are part of it. Your energy becomes the catalyst, the Dust the fuel." Yang stared in wonder, not quite believing what she was seeing._

" _Isn't this, like,_ super _illegal?" she asked, doubt nagging at her._

" _It would be, if this was Dust refined to be used in something as barbaric as ammunition. A crystal like this? You would use it to heat a home. Or to power an airship. It's just energy. Energy you can use." The light of the flames illuminated her golden eyes._

" _Something told me you'd have a knack for it."_

Flame poured down Yang's right arm, filling the space left by the golden outline. The light and heat were intense as she poured her energy into it. The fire lit up Yatsuhashi face, and for the barest moment, she saw fear in his dark eyes.

Then she kicked him in the stomach, a solid heel kick that drove him back across the stage. As she did, she twisted her arms, grabbing the blade by the dull edge and tearing it from his grasp. It clattered over the edge of the arena and landed on the ground.

The crowd went beserk.

Yang stared at her arm of living flame, flexing the fingers, still as awestruck by it as the first time she'd called it. She basked in the attention the crowd was heaping on her. Panic flowed with excitement in equal measure. They could sense the end coming. She stalked towards Yatsuhashi, not even bothering to take a stance.

"Last chance Yatsu," she said, a smile plastered on her face as she mimicked him. "Please. Walk away from this."

He growled and pushed himself to his feet.

"Suit yourself," she said with a shrug. Then she attacked. This was what she had always been best at, what she had been born to do. The intensity of a hand-to-hand, no-holds-barred beatdown. She and Yatsuhashi exchanged a furious flurry of blows. He wasn't bad, and he still had superior reach over her, but he could only afford to block blows from her right hand on his armored left shoulder, dodging everything else, forcing him back and off-balance.  
Plus, every blow of his that landed on Yang seemed to revitalize her, to stir the flames that were her Aura. A blow to her jaw that nearly took her off her feet let her retaliate with what could have been a bone-shattering uppercut. It broke his guard and put him way off kilter. As he flailed his arms, Yang grabbed his right in her left, stabilizing him for just a moment, before using his weight to hurl herself up off the ground into a spinning kick that nailed him across the jaw and sent him sprawling to the ground.

She landed hard, but on balance, and as he struggled to rise, she grabbed his arm and rolled him, effortlessly pinning him to the ground beneath her, his arm locked behind his back. She felt him struggle to rise and she drew from the enormous well of strength she suddenly found herself with, holding him in place while golden flames ran through her hair. She placed her ignited arm against the small of his back, and she heard his hiss of pain as he was forced down to the floor.

Definitely trained in Aura then. As he focused what must have been the last of his energy on protecting his skin from the flame, his strength failed him. She watched as the clothes on his back smoked and singed, burning away.

"I really don't want to hurt you, big guy," she said, low enough that it couldn't be heard over the din the crowd was making, "but I don't have many options here. I have to win, which means you have to lose. Nothing personal."

They stayed that way for the span of several heartbeats before, grudgingly, Yatsuhashi slammed the ground with his free hand.

The buzzer sounded, and Yang rolled off her opponent, bounding lightly to her feet. She raised her right arm in triumph, grinning in defiance. Some were cheering her, most were screaming. She saw people shredding tickets they'd taken when placing their bets. Cinder's hope for a frenzy had certainly been exceeded. People would be talking about this fight for the rest of the night.

She headed towards the edge of the stage, extinguishing her flaming arm as she went. Emerald greeted her there, and Yang grabbed her, pulling her in for a searing kiss, adrenaline singing through her body and fanning the ever-present flames of infatuation.

Emerald raised an eyebrow as they parted. "Laying it on a little thick there, are we?" she asked as she draped Yang's coat around her shoulders. "I seem to recall you almost beating me senseless earlier today."

"That was then. This is now." They stepped off the stage and made their way through the crowd, which parted before them. Yang noticed with pleasure that she drew just as many looks of admiration as she did looks of fear. "Besides, it's all been a game from the start, hasn't it? You're using me just like I'm using you." Two men opened the factory doors for them and they stepped out into the cool night air. The temperature would keep dropping until the sun rose in the morning, but for the moment, it felt perfect on her sweltering skin.

She grabbed Emerald and dragged her behind the Factory, pushing her against the wall. "Well? Are you going to deny it?"

Emerald blushed and glanced away from her. It was the first time she'd seen her fazed like this. "No," she finally mumbled.

"Okay then," Yang said, grasping her chin in her fingers, lifting Emerald's red eyes to meet her own. "Then let's use each other _right_."

Before the older girl could protest, Yang kissed her, pushing their bodies together against the dark brick of the building. Emerald protested a moment, before giving in, wrapping her arms around Yang, hissing as she moved her mouth to the dark-skinned girls neck, teeth nipping the skin she found there.

They were lost in their own world for just a moment, running from their own private heartaches. Neither of them noticed a flash of dark hair or amber eyes as a girl fled from the shadows and out into the night.


	8. Chapter 8: Ravens and Writing Desks

**Chapter 8: Ravens and Writing Desks**

Weiss sat cross-legged in front of the mirror in the ballet studio and tried to breathe steadily. It had been a week since she'd managed to unlock her Aura, but even still she found she had a hard time "calling" it as Winter had put it. It was a process that involved somehow making the spiritual, physical - manifesting her Aura as a sensation that would allow her to manipulate it easily or pull from it for strength and speed.

She took another deep breath and did her best to set her insecurity aside. The method she'd used last time had seemed to work, and she tried to invoke it again. She imagined the air around her solidifying, the light bending ever so slightly as it did. She tried to see the image in the studio mirror in front of her refract, as if she was seeing it through a lense. She surrounded herself in glass, beautiful and crystal clear. Delicate and fragile at first, she spun the glass into a fortress, armor that surrounded and protected her. She felt a small surge of strength as she did and she lifted herself carefully to her feet.

She could do this. She was a Schnee. That still meant something to her, it had to. She recalled the moment she unlocked her aura, looking into the mirror in her room and seeing not blue eyes staring back at her, but silver with a broad smile and nothing but encouragement.

" _You're stronger than you think you are."_

Weiss felt an odd sensation, as if the air around her _snapped_. She inhaled sharply. There it was. She couldn't have said how she knew, or what exactly she was feeling, but she knew she had succeeded. She let out a long breath and allowed herself a triumphant smile.

 _Thank you, Ruby._

She heard a knock at the studio door and she quickly moved to the ballet bar at the back of the room. She began to practice her positions as she called out, "Come in!"

Klein entered the room, bowing his head slightly as he did so. "Miss Schnee, you have a visitor."

Weiss dropped the position she'd been holding and tilted her head. "A visitor?" The only person who had come to see her since she'd arrived back in Atlas had been her sister. "Who is it, Klein?"

Klein cleared his throat. "Well, um, actually it's the general. General Ironwood."

Weiss raised her eyebrows. What was the general doing calling on her? Surely he had far more important things to see to, he was one of the most influential men on Remnant. Still, that meant ignoring a summons from him was unacceptable. If he'd come all this way to see her, he would see her. "Very well. But I'm hardly dressed appropriately for a meeting like this." She was wearing a pair of white tights under a blue leotard with a white skirt around her waist. She'd opted for ballet flats instead of her heels for a change, to better disguise her true purpose in coming to the studio.

"General Ironwood has said that there is no need for formality, Miss Schnee. This will be a brief visit, he does not wish to intrude."

Weiss wondered briefly if her father would care. Still, if the general was in a rush, then wasting his time and ignoring his wishes would almost certainly be more rude than coming underdressed. "Very well, take me to him then, Klein."

She followed him through the east wing and down a hall that connected them to the northern wing. For a second, Weiss was afraid they would be going up to her father's study, but Klein led her down a flight of stairs instead to an office Weiss didn't recognize. There was a plaque on the door that read: Romeo Lampwick, Security. As they approached, Weiss could hear a man's voice speaking inside.

"...why it's necessary for me to wait here. I would be more than happy to go to Miss Schnee myself." The man's voice was familiar. Though Weiss had only met the general on one or two occasions prior to today, she had no problem placing James Ironwood's commanding baritone.

"It's simply a matter of security, General," another man answered. His voice was smoother, and seemed to carry a hint of amusement. "I'd make a poor head of security if I let just anybody wander the estate. These are dangerous times, as you very well know."

"What I know, is that Jaques no longer trusts me." The general's voice was edged with bitter contempt.

"Nonsense," the other man replied with an airy, unconvincing tone. "He trusts you plenty. But I don't."

Klein cleared his throat and knocked on the door. Both voices called out "Enter" at the same time. Klein opened the door for Weiss, standing back politely.

The office was styled very much like her father's study, though significantly smaller and with less lavish furnishings. One side of the room had a desk, though unlike her father's, it was crowded mostly with a collection of monitors rather than paperwork. A few chairs were set between the door and the desk, collected around a small, low table where an unused tea set sat gathering dust. Two men were seated in the chairs. The first stood up as soon as she entered. He was tall, well over six feet, with a strong, square jaw and features that looked as if they'd been chiseled from stone. His dark hair was greying at the temples, and he had the shadow of a beard beginning to grow in. He was dressed impeccably in clothes that reflected his position - a long white coat over a dark shirt and red tie, belted at the waist with dark leather. The collar of his coat was decorated with four badges, two on either side, denoting his rank. Despite his ranking, however, General James Ironwood bowed when Weiss entered the room.

"Miss Schnee, it is a pleasure to see you."

Weiss curtsied in return. "And you, General, though I must apologize for my attire. I was practicing in my studio, and Klein told me that time was a factor so-"

Ironwood held up a hand. "Please, no apologies necessary. I am the one intruding on your time." Behind him, the man who remained sitting rolled his eyes.

He was wearing the uniform of the security personnel, a white suit jacket worn over dark slacks and dress shirt, but he had added a scarf around his neck and a bowler hat to his personal ensemble. His hair was longer than most of the other security staff too. It was a vibrant shade of orange and fell over his right eye. His left was very green and held the same amusement present in the half-smirk on his lips. Weiss recognized him, though she'd never spoken to him in person. He was Romeo Lampwick, the newly appointed head of her father's security.

"Enough with the pomp, General," Lampwick said, twirling a cane casually in his left hand. You said you had a delivery for Miss Schnee, so by all means, let's see it."

The general glared at him, but reached down and picked up a small case from the coffee table. It was finely carved wood with a silver lock and fastenings. Though not terribly large, it was heavier than Weiss would have thought when Ironwood handed it to her.

"These are a gift from your sister," he told her as she opened the lid of the case. "She said that your rapier was fitted with gemstones. She thought that you might appreciate more of a variety." Weiss stared at the contents of the box. There were six gems in total, in as many colors.

"They are very beautiful," Weiss said after a moment's hesitation. "Please convey my gratitude to Winter when you see her again."

"Of course," the general agreed. "She wanted me to tell you that the blue was her favorite." There was a look in his eye, something that Weiss couldn't place. She wondered how much he knew about Winter's investigation and their plans together.

She shut the case and tucked it under her arm. "Thank you for delivering these, General. I will not keep you any longer. I will see you at the banquet this weekend."

Ironwood grimaced, but managed to turn it quickly into an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid you won't, actually. No invitation, I'm afraid."

Weiss furrowed her brow. "I do not understand. Father said he wanted to host all the members of the council."

"Only the ones whose opinions he feels he can sway," he said. Weiss thought she could hear a slightly bitter tone in his words, but if he felt resentful, he didn't show it on his face. "I apologize again for the intrusion Miss Schnee." He inclined his head. "If you will excuse me."

She nodded and stood aside as the general made his way to the door. "Please don't dawdle, General," Lampwick said, checking his nails. "I'll be watching." He tapped the nearest monitor with the tip of his cane.

Ironwood glared at the man over his shoulder, but otherwise said nothing, letting the door close behind him with a snap.

Weiss stood awkwardly in the room with the head of security for a moment, unsure if she should ask permission to leave. She took a step towards the door.

"Your father is a very clever man, you know," Lampwick said before she got far. He was looking at her now, smiling mischievously. "Do you think you can tell me why?"

Weiss was used to tests like these. Her father would ask her questions from time to time, things to make her think about the SDC from a CEO's perspective, or to analyse the political moves that were being made. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to recall everything she knew about the embargo and her father's banquet.

"The Dust Embargo was General Ironwood's idea," she finally said. "He drafted the legislation and got it approved by the council. He holds two seats, so getting the majority approval was not difficult." Lampwick nodded, encouragingly, and Weiss pressed on.

"General Ironwood is well-liked and trusted by the other three council members, but the decision was still controversial and is affecting businesses all over Atlas, not just the SDC. Father will have a greater chance convincing the council members to change their minds if the general is not present making his counter-arguments. He not only makes himself out to be the voice of reason, but he gets to make his case the same way General Ironwood would have - without opposition."

Lampwick's smile broadened. It made Weiss feel uncomfortable. "It seems your father isn't the only clever one in the family." He finally got to his feet, walking around the table until he stood between Weiss and the door. He leaned on his cane and looked down at her. He wasn't terribly tall, the general would have dwarfed him, but most people looked down on Weiss. Still, she held her ground and his gaze, refusing to let herself be intimidated by somebody who worked for her family. Lampwick chuckled.

"Such a fire inside. I won't keep you Miss Schnee, I know you're quite busy what

with your dancing and practicing for the banquet. We all quite look forward to hearing your angelic voice." He stood aside and swept his bowler hat off and into a low bow. Weiss just nodded curtly at him and strode towards the door. As she opened it, she heard him humming under his breath. It was a familiar tune, and Weiss felt something nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put a finger on why.

Weiss made her way back to her room, winding down corridors and staircases, running through her conversation with the general and Lampwick in the process. The new security head made her feel more than a little uneasy. He was definitely an oddity; much less rigid than she had expected a man of his position to be. His credentials must have been impressive to convince father to hire him, despite his eccentricities. Especially since he and he alone was allowed to keep watch over the whole manor.

Well, except for certain rooms. The ballet studio, for example. Weiss had refused to have cameras installed for privacy's sake which had made it the best place to practice with her Aura. And of course, the family living quarters, her rooms and Whitley's were not allowed to be monitored at her father's insistence.

And yet…

Weiss brushed the nagging feeling away and found herself at her door. She slipped inside her sitting area, closing and locking the door as she did. It appeared that Sable had already been through, the floor had been swept and the carpet that covered most of the cold stone beneath her feet looked recently vacuumed. Her papers were also nicely stacked and organized on her writing desk.

She set the case the general had given her on the desk and opened it again. He remembered what he'd said about Winter favoring the blue one, and she picked it up to examine it more closely. The gem was a pristine sapphire, clear and elegantly cut. Valuable maybe, but not particularly special in any way that Weiss could discern. She turned her attention instead to the box, feeling around in the divet the sapphire had sat in. She found what she was looking for immediately, a small loop of velvet fabric, pressed down so as to become invisible against the interior of the box. She gave it a small tug, and the layer of the box containing the remaining gems lifted off. She placed the false bottom aside to look at what it was her sister had truly wanted to deliver.

Beneath the gemstones was a group of crystals, six, like the gemstones that had concealed them, but these were not precious stones. Weiss recognized the crystalized Dust immediately. Set between the red and blue crystals was a communication chip. Weiss took the chip and moved into her bedroom where her scroll sat. She inserted the chip and waited a moment for the message to load.

Unsurprisingly it was her sister's face that greeted her from her scroll's screen. "Hello Weiss," Winter said formally. "Hopefully this package has reached you without any undo trouble. I have asked General Ironwood to deliver it in the hope that Father would not dare to intercept a package from him personally. I remembered you telling me that you had your sword constructed using blueprints from the Schnee family archives, and with the general's help, we have managed to procure crystals that will fit your blade.

"These crystals are not, technically, illegal. They have not been refined in such a way that they can be constructed or worked into ammunition. They can be used, however, by somebody with the right training. This chip contains a video I have made for you that I wish for you to add to the training you are already doing with your Aura if, as I hope, you have managed to access it already. If not, do not focus on them, and instead focus on building your familiarity with Aura."

Winter paused, looking as if she was organizing her thoughts. "I am leaving for Mistral after I finish recording this message. With any luck, Qrow will have made contact with our extractor by now, and I want to be able to pick them both up as soon as possible." Weiss felt her stomach clench at the news. With Winter in Mistral, she wouldn't be able to call her, and sending messages was out of the question since they were doubtlessly still being screened by her father. She was alone again. Winter's face was apologetic, seemingly understanding this even as she recorded the message, but she continued regardless.

"I will be back in Atlas before you know it, but you will not hear from me again until after your job is done. Remember everything we talked about. After your performance, you will find time to excuse yourself. You will find the documents in the records' office in the North Wing. Take what we need, and rendezvous with our accomplice upstairs in the conference room."

Winter glanced over her shoulder at that moment and she heard a male voice somewhere in the background. "Yes. Of course, just one moment Lieutenant," she said before returning her attention to the camera. "I have to go now Weiss. Be careful, and please keep yourself safe." The recording ended, leaving Weiss staring at her own reflection.

Weiss swallowed past the lump in her throat and tried to consider the situation rationally. Realistically, it wasn't as though Winter would have been able to do anything to help her between now and the banquet, not if their goal was to keep their father's suspicions at bay. But Weiss couldn't deny that the ability to call her sister had been an enormous comfort.

"Pull it together," she scolded herself, returning to the sitting area and the box of Dust crystals, and retrieved Myrtenaster. She placed her finger on the catch and the revolver-like barrel that made up part of the crossguard folded away from the hilt, exposing the gems she had fitted into the blade. She extracted them one at a time before loading the Dust crystals in their place. Red for Burn Dust, blue for Freeze, yellow for Shock, white for Wind, purple for Gravity, and green for Earth. Once she had shifted the hilt back into its original position, the sword looked nearly identical to the way it had with the gemstones set in it instead.

Weiss contemplated watching Winter's video and trying to learn what exactly she was supposed to do with these crystals - after all, it was like her sister had said, they weren't refined to fit ammunition. Shock Dust in this form might be used to power the lights of a home, and Freeze Dust might be used to keep a refrigerator cold, but neither of those were particularly useful traits for a potentially dangerous heist.

Despite her own curiosity, however, Weiss opted to replace the sword on its rack and turn her attention to the performance. It would have to be perfect. She would need to be in Father's good graces if she wanted to escape the crowds for even a few minutes without arousing suspicion. Reluctantly, she began shifting the papers Sable had meticulously stacked for her until she found the sheet music she was looking for. She hummed the tune to herself as she glanced over the music. Odd. Weiss had the most peculiar sense of deja vu…

Realization hit her like a bolt. It was the same tune Lampwick had been humming in his office. Her song, "Mirror Mirror, Part 2." But that wasn't possible. Weiss hadn't performed the song yet, it was an original. And the only place she had practiced it had been...here...in her room.

Weiss' mouth went dry. She began to run her hands over the surface of her desk, before hunting through the stacks of papers. A rising panic began to make her heart hammer and she searched more frantically, tossing papers left and right, scouring the surface of her desk. She grabbed drawers, tugging each one out, sending paper, bottles of ink, fountain pens, anything flying as she rapidly searched the only piece of furniture in her rooms that would make a good hiding place.

When her search yielded nothing, she dropped to her knees and crawled under it, running her hands over the wooden engravings that marked the base and the underside...until her fingers found a groove in the wood they fit into a little too well. She twisted her fingers and heard a small click. The underside of the desk dropped into her hand, a small tray meant to keep things hidden from sight.

Inside was a small device hooked to a tiny glowing crystal. A listening device. Transmitting to...somewhere.

Weiss wanted to be sick. She felt her skin crawl. She grabbed the device and placed it on the surface of the desk, before taking Winter's case in hand and bringing it down with a shout. She slammed the case down again and again on the bug until it was nothing but scrap and shards of Dust.

Weiss' mouth was dry. Lampwick was spying on her. Father had forbidden that. Unless he was acting on Father's orders? How much had the head of security heard? How much had he reported? Most of what Weiss and Winter had discussed was done beyond the walls of the estate, but that first day, they had conversed here...and in her bedroom. She wondered how far the device could have picked up their voices.

Weiss dashed to her scroll instinctually, halfway through dialing her sister's number before remembering. She had left Atlas. She had no way to contact Winter. The heist was on, whether she liked it or not.

Whatever Weiss did next, she would have to do it alone.

* * *

Ruby sighted down the long scope and took a deep breath. She focused all of her attention on the target, and as she exhaled, she centered her crosshairs on the bullseye. When the subtle sway of the scope stopped, she pulled the trigger. The protective earplugs she wore helped dampen the sound, but the gunshot still felt like a particularly rude slap against her eardrums. The recoil was intense too, and she felt another twinge in her already aching shoulder as the enormous weapon dug into her. She gritted her teeth and chambered another round, already lining up her next shot.

It wasn't her first day out with the rifle. True to Qrow's promise nearly three weeks ago, he had found Ruby places to practice wherever it was they ended up. For a while, that had been villages and small towns. They'd hopped around for a couple of weeks relying on trains to get where they were going. Usually upon arrival, after dumping their travel supplies in some inn, Qrow would take Ruby beyond the boundaries of the village or town, deep into the woods or, a couple of times, to the abandoned ruins of civilization that had been left in the wake of the Last War. Then, while she practiced in seclusion, Qrow would poke around asking after their mystery accomplice. In the evenings, Ruby would work on the weapon blueprints she was supposed to deliver before passing out, exhausted. It was rare they stayed somewhere for longer than a night, and they did more sleeping in train cars than in beds. Most mornings, she woke to her uncle tossing her bag at her and hitting the road once again.

Around five or six days ago - Ruby was beginning to lose count - things had changed. Instead of taking a train out of Shion village like Ruby had expected, her Uncle had showed up at the inn that night with a tent and some newly acquired camping supplies. The next morning, they'd left Shion on foot, heading deeper into the woods that Anima was well known for. They would hike a day, then stop the next, with Qrow seemingly vanishing during their non-travel days, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts, her blueprints, and her practice.

The final shot in the magazine clapped against her ears and Ruby took a moment to examine the target through the scope. Two or three of the shots were definitely in the "ten ring" as Qrow had called it, and none of them had missed the target entirely. Ruby felt a surge of pride and unease in equal measures. Even if it was sanctioned by her uncle, practicing with a weapon like this made Ruby feel apprehensive. Still, she couldn't deny the thrill that came with using something with this much raw power, and the more she'd learned about the deceptively simple weapon, the more she'd come to appreciate it in form, if not in function.

Ruby slid the empty magazine out of the rifle and stood up, stretching her sore arms and stiff legs. She ignored the familiar trembling in her hands and hit the button on the gun that converted it back into its lower profile form and slung it over her less aching shoulder by a leather strap. The sun was going to be setting soon, and as Qrow pointed out, there was little point in practicing after dark.

By the time she'd gathered the target and arrived back at the clearing they had set up camp in, dusk had well and truly fallen over the forest. The tent was set up, just as she remembered, and there was a fire crackling in a makeshift fire pit ringed with stones. She could see Qrow sitting with his back to her, a sheaf of papers in one hand and his flask in the other. She set her weapon and the rolled-up paper target near the tent before joining him at the fire. Autumn was truly in the air now, the evenings dropping to a temperature just below comfortable for anyone but maybe her sister. Ruby drew her hooded cloak closer around her as she sat cross-legged in front of the fire, the yellow orange light from the blaze casting the leaves around her in shades that foreshadowed the colors they'd be taking on in just a few short weeks. Ruby noticed that there was a small tin cup sitting in front of her, and a pot was suspended over the fire. She helped herself to the camp meal, clutching the cup of warm soup in her hands to stave off the fall chill.

It was only at this point that Qrow seemed to notice her. He glanced up from the papers, and Ruby caught a glimpse of one of her schematics in his hand.

"This is nice work, kiddo," he said, returning his attention to the blueprint in front of him, a detailed re-working of his own sword which was currently propped up against a tree half a dozen paces from them. "Wouldn't have thought there was room for two barrels and a firing mechanism in the hilt. Looks less like a sniper though and more like-"

"A shotgun," Ruby finished for him, sipping at the soup. "Sawed-off, not full barrel. It wouldn't have much range, but your scythe doesn't have room for anything bigger. That was just a proof of concept though." She reached towards him and took the sheaf of papers he had, rifling through them before pulling one out and handing it back. "This is my pride and joy," she said with a little smirk.

She'd designed the weapon from the ground up. It folded into a condensed form, not so unlike the case her rifle resembled now, but somewhat less cumbersome. She'd sacrificed barrel length for a sleeker overall form, but it should theoretically handle pretty well at medium distances.

The true beauty of it was in the extension, the way the weapon unfolded into an enormous bladed scythe. The gun could still fire from the head of the scythe, the ricochet from the blast able to propel the blade with deadly force. She had finished this draft the night before, and though it would need another couple to clean up properly, Ruby was pleased with it.

From his expression, it seemed Qrow was too. "I'm impressed," he said. His eye was drawn to a rose doodled in the bottom corner of the schematics. "So, what's this?"

Ruby blushed and snatched the paper back. "Well, all good weapons have a name, right? So, I decided to name this one after me. 'Cause, you know, I made it."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "So, it's called Rose?"

" _Crescent_ Rose," Ruby corrected him. "You know, because it's curved…" She felt incredibly foolish.

Qrow didn't laugh. "Crescent Rose it is," he said, solemnly. "I guess we'll find out if it's good enough. We've got a meeting tomorrow night."

Ruby perked up at that. "Did you find her? Whoever it is who's helping us?"

Qrow nodded. "I found her alright. She's agreed to meet and talk terms, but she's not making any promises. Typical. Still, at least we've got something to bring to the table now."

Ruby glanced at the papers in her hand, folding them over carefully and tucking them inside her hood for safekeeping. She sipped at her soup pensively as she mulled over the question she wanted to ask. "Uncle Qrow," she said after a long minute of silence, "this woman...the way you talk about her, you make her seem, well, dangerous. Should we be worried about giving her access to weapons like this?"

Qrow examined her silently. "That's a fair question," he said after a moment of consideration. "It deserves a fair answer. Yes, she is dangerous. And yes, you should be worried about handing schematics like that to anyone, regardless of how dangerous they are. Fortunately for us, she's not our enemy. She's not always our ally, but you and I shouldn't have anything to fear. Probably. Besides, without her help, we stand to lose a lot more."

Ruby swallowed. "This is another one of those big-picture things, right?"

Qrow sighed. "Yeah, something like that."

They sat a while longer, the crackling of the fire and the sound of the nocturnal creatures of the forest coming to life around them filling the silence. Ruby wasn't used to seeing this side of her uncle. Pensive, worried, always so guarded. She was used to him annoying her dad, or playing video games with her and Yang on the couch in their home back on Patch. If she closed her eyes and concentrated really hard, she could even conjure up an image of Qrow and her mother laughing about something sitting around the kitchen table, her father rolling his eyes in the background. Ruby wasn't sure if that was a real memory, or something she'd created, but she held onto it regardless.

Lost in thought, Ruby hadn't noticed Qrow stand up, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw him unroll the paper target she had used that day. "You really weren't kidding about being a fast learner," he mused as he examined the bullet holes. "You've come a long way from shooting low branches off of trees." He folded the target up and tossed it nonchalantly into the flames, watching it curl and blacken. Ruby felt a brief glow of pride, but it was dampened by the anticipation of the question she knew would follow.

"So you're coming along nicely on your weapon training and your designs," he said, taking a seat as well as a pull from his flask. "How about your other project?"

Ruby bit her lip. As it turned out, no matter how fast of a learner Ruby was, even her own gifts were limited when it came to undefined maybe-spirituality. "Not great," she mumbled, filling her empty tin cup with more soup. "I still don't...I don't know exactly what it is I'm supposed to feel," she said, frustrated with her own lack of comprehension more than anything else.

Qrow shook his head. "That's because there's nothing it's supposed to feel _like_ ," he explained for what Ruby suspected was the dozenth time. "Remember, your Aura is a reflection of your soul. That means-"

"That it will be personal for me, its own experience, I know, I know," Ruby finished for him, choosing to stare into the flames instead of meeting her uncle's red eyes. "I've tried visualizing it, I've tried feeling for it, smelling it, tasting it, everything, but there's just nothing there! Also, meditating on the nature of my "true self" is exhausting and boring," she finished, her annoyance getting the better of her. "I can honestly say I don't know who I am, or what I'm doing, and I don't know any seventeen year old who does. And those are just normal seventeen year olds, not ones who are backpacking across Anima to perform a top-secret rescue op." Ruby took a deep breath, setting her untouched second helping of soup to one side before burying her face in her hands.

"I just...feel lost," she admitted, her words blunted somewhat by her palms. "I'm lost, and I still can't stop being scared. Even learning to use, you know, that," she gestured vaguely behind her where the rifle was propped up, "my hands start shaking. And I don't know how to make it go away."

She wasn't crying, but Ruby felt empty inside, hollowed out. Her body ached from weeks of endless travel, her shoulders and arms were sore from training. And all she could ever imagine when she tried to envision herself in her own mind was a weak and scared little girl who was in vastly too far over her head.

She felt an arm around her shoulder and the familiar scent of Qrow filled her next breath. She buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He patted her back, and said nothing, just sitting there, silent, but warm and supportive nonetheless.

"I know it's hard to believe Ruby," he said after a moment, "but fear isn't the enemy. Hell, everything you've been through, the things you've had to see, I'd be more worried about you if you weren't scared." Ruby pulled back just enough that she could look up and see his face. He was staring into the fire, the dying light throwing his face into sharp relief. "Your mother told me once that fear wasn't the opposite of bravery. She said that bravery was acting in spite of your fears, not without them." Ruby felt a lump rise in her throat at the mention of her mother.

"I miss her," she heard herself say. It felt childish, but it was true.

"Me too, kid," Qrow said.

They sat like that until the fire had burnt down to embers, and the stars began to appear overhead. Ruby was dozing off when Qrow helped her to her feet and towards the tent. "Go ahead and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

The last thing Ruby remembered hearing as she laid her head down in her sleeping bag was the cawing of a crow and the rustle of wings.

* * *

For the first time in her life, Weiss was trying to channel her father. She sat in the high-backed chair she kept near the window of her sitting room, trying to freeze her anger, fear and disgust into a razor-sharp blade. She had sent Klein to fetch Lampwick a quarter of an hour ago, and the wait had not been good for her nerves.

She went over her list of goals in her mind, bullet points, a to-do list. It was easier to think about in that respect. When was the bug planted? Who had wanted it put there? Why? She repeated the list to herself like a mantra. Figure out those things, then go from there.

She jumped ever so slightly when there was a knock on the door. "Miss Schnee?" she heard Klein's voice clearly. "Mr. Lampwick is here to see you."

Another deep breath to compose herself. With a focused effort of will, she felt the increasingly familiar snap in the air around her as she called her Aura. It was probably overkill, but if the man had been spying on her, who knew what he might be capable of when confronted? Better safe than sorry. Besides, she was discovering that when she was able to call her Aura, the world would open up to her in ways she had never expected. Hints of intuition would blossom into physical awareness, and even subtle things like facial expressions and body language would become easier for her to read.

She was going to need all the help she could get.

"Enter," Weiss said, remaining seated, staring out the window without seeing the sprawling grounds of the Schnee estate below. She heard the door open behind her, felt the presence of two people for a moment, before the door closed leaving only one behind. She tried to extend her senses beyond herself, to see the way Winter had instructed, but if the security head was nervous, he was doing a remarkable job at concealing it. He was also, apparently, a patient man, and declined to speak first. Not a great start.

Weiss turned in her chair to face him. He was leaning on his cane with a politely inquisitive expression.

"Mr. Lampwick, do you have any idea why I've called you in here?"

Lampwick raised an eyebrow, never taking his eyes from hers. "Can't say I do Miss Schnee," he said, his voice light and conversational despite Weiss' confrontational tone. "If there is a security matter you would like to discuss, I hope you know you could confide any-"

"Silence!" Weiss barked, and she rose to her feet. She was her father's daughter, and for once, she wanted somebody to realize it. She gestured to her writing desk where the device she'd found earlier had been smashed to pieces.

"Explain." Her voice was ice.

Lampwick's eyes flickered to the desk. Weiss studied him carefully, but his face became a mask. His expression shifted only slightly, perfectly smooth in its execution. He recognized the device, that was all Weiss was prepared to say. That and he was certainly hiding something.

In a moment, the cool confidence was back as he met her gaze with an innocent curiosity. "Why, it's a surveillance device Miss Schee. Audio only, as per your specifications, and as unobtrusive as possible."

Weiss blinked. "My specifications? _My_ specifications? Explain yourself, now."

Lampwick cleared his throat. "Yes, your specifications. Your father told me that you'd spoken after your sister returned to the estate. He said that, despite his trepidations at allowing her back, you had assured him you would keep an eye on her, and to prove it, you were requesting a listening device put in your room so that you could have proof of any...unsavory action Winter might be planning to take against your father. It was very clever of you, I thought, very clever indeed."

Weiss had to keep her fists clenched to keep from shaking. She focused on her list, she had one of her answers. Her father had ordered the bug planted, but he hadn't wanted the head of security to know he was making the order himself. Maybe because she wasn't sure Lampwick would do it otherwise? That might be worth something.

"Is everything alright Miss Schnee?" Lampwick asked. "If I may, you don't look well. Perhaps a bit of rest is in order? I could tell Klein to fetch something from the kitchen."

"I am fine," Weiss said unconvincingly. Truth be told, she wanted to lie down, or at least sit. She wanted to lock herself in her room and stay there. Stay there until she could leave, run, flee back to her real home and her real family. But Beacon was a long way away, and she didn't know if she had any family left there. "Mr. Lampwick, tell me, where do your loyalties lie?"

The question seemed to catch the man off guard, but he recovered quickly enough. "Why, with the Schnee family of course," he said, sweeping his bowler off and giving her a low bow.

"And if a member of that family was conspiring against another?"

Lampwick raised his head. "My job is to protect the members of the Schnee family. If that means from one another, so be it." He righted himself, settling his hat back on his head. "Afterall, no Schnees means no paycheck, and I'm afraid that is a bigger motivating factor for me than you would like."

"Under some circumstances, perhaps." Weiss said. She considered her next move carefully. It was all a game. Moves and countermoves. She had been letting her father play more or less uncontested for her entire life. It was time she started making some plays of her own.

"I did not order the surveillance of my room," Weiss said, studying Lampwick's expression. "My father lied to you."

There was a flicker of surprise across Lampwick's face. A tightening of his jaw, slight raise of his eyebrows, before settling back into a stoic glare. "What?"

"He lied. He wanted to spy on my sister, so he told you I came up with the plan so that you would go against orders and plant surveillance in my room. I am guessing that you had Sable do it?" She was the only one who had access to Weiss' chambers, and she had a connection to Lampwick.

He seemed to consider her words a moment before nodding carefully. "Yes, I did. I had her do it when you and your sister were out of the estate, I thought it would be best for your - or rather, I suppose - your father's plan if Winter wasn't present."

Despite everything, Weiss felt a small amount of relief. There was no way her father could have spun this story and Lampwick could have planted a bug between the time her sister arrived at the estate and they'd made their way to her rooms. Whatever her father had heard, it hadn't been anything too damning. A plan was beginning to unfold in her mind, a way to use the situation to her advantage. She had to play her cards carefully, do just as her father would do, as much as it sickened her.

"There is a reason my father wanted you to spy on Winter and I," she said.

The corner of Lampwick's mouth twitched. "I figured as much."

Weiss glared at him before continuing. "My father might soon find himself in a compromising position, and I believe he is aware of it. I think he suspects that Winter is looking for a way to expose that compromising position. If she does, my father stands to lose everything. He would be in disgrace. The family name tarnished. Our company ruined. I doubt very much that that would be a favorable outcome for you, would it Mr. Lampwick?"

The man before her gave nothing away. His eyes were calm, and level as they met her gaze, his cocky little half-smile never wavering. "I suppose it wouldn't, Miss Schnee."

"Then before we continue, I have to ask you again: where do your loyalties lie, Mr. Lampwick?"

The pause between them stretched on and on, too long for Weiss' tastes. The tension in the air was tangible, she could hardly breathe.

Finally, Lampwick relaxed every so slightly. "I suppose it would be with the future CEO of a successful Schnee Dust Company," he said with an oily smile.

Weiss nodded curtly. That was unlikely to be her, but he didn't need to know that. All she needed to know was that he was on her side.

"If I am going to prevent our company from collapsing, I need to retrieve some documents from the records office. I plan to do so on the night of the banquet, after my performance, when my father will be speaking with the members of the council."

Lampwick nodded. "So what do you require of me then, Miss Schnee? A security escort? Access?"

"I do not need an escort, and I have access," she said. "What I need, is a distraction. I need my father's eyes elsewhere so that he does not notice me leave, and I need assurance that none of the security that night will alert him to my absence."

He was so difficult to read. Even with her expanded senses, he gave almost nothing away. But he bowed another little bow. "That will be easy enough to accomplish, Miss Schnee," he said with a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Was it really? Weiss didn't feel as if any of this process had been easy. She felt like she was falling apart inside, her heart beating too quickly, her mouth dry, her skin cold and clammy. She held her facade together out of sheer willpower, ice and glass spun together like the Aura that protected her. It hadn't felt easy...she didn't think.

"Good. We will not speak of this again until after the banquet, and I hope I do not have to remind you that it is best my father thinks you are still listening to me." She seated herself once more, trying not to look as though she were collapsing in the chair. She turned her attention to the window once more, seeing him bow again, lower, out of the corner of her eye before he turned sharply on his heel and headed towards the door.

Weiss' eye fell on her sword on the rack, and she turned back towards the retreating head of security. "Mr. Lampwick, a moment. There is one more thing I will require from you."

* * *

The wind cut through Ruby like a knife. She and Qrow were standing at the top of a large hill, forest stretching out around them as far as the eye could see. The dense canopy made it look like they were on an island in a sea of green leaves. The only break was the ruins of a city that they'd passed on the way up here. They were maybe half a day's hike from their last campsite. Ruby had spent the morning putting the finishing touches on Crescent Rose's design before they'd packed up and taken off, Qrow adjusting their course seemingly at random since Ruby never saw him consult a physical map or even a compass.

They'd left everything except Qrow's sword and Ruby's schematics at the base of the hill, and had hiked up just as dusk turned to twilight. It had been a windy day, with grey clouds rolling in to block out the sun, and now without the shelter of the trees, the chill was becoming problematic. The gathered clouds also meant that there was little in terms of starlight and the moon would be completely hidden. The two of them stayed that way for a while, Ruby shivering beneath her cloak and Qrow glancing around them impassively. When it became too dark to see, Qrow lit a covered lamp and placed it on the ground. He turned his attention to Ruby above the low light.

"Our guest is going to be arriving in a slightly unorthodox fashion, so just try and keep your head about you, got it?"

"What, is she f-flying in?" Ruby asked, her teeth chattering.

"Not this time," Qrow said with a smirk she didn't understand. Ruby considered asking about it, but she had a more pressing question. One that had been nagging at her for nearly their entire trip, but one she hadn't dared to ask for fear of the answer. Now, however, she couldn't put it off any longer.

"Uncle Qrow, what happens if this person decides not to help? You said only she could get Weiss out of the Schnee estate."

Qrow nodded, his expression neutral. "She is. At least, she's the only one who can do it safely. If she doesn't agree, we'll come up with a different plan."

"A more dangerous plan?" The thought of something happening to Weiss, or to Qrow was almost too much to manage. She thought about Yang and Blake, how badly they'd been hurt. She thought about Pyrrha.

Qrow hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah, a more dangerous plan. But we're not there yet. One step at a time."

But before Ruby could ask a follow up question, she heard a deep, low humming sound in the air, and felt a strange pressure that she couldn't quite explain, as if a very small shockwave had just passed over her. Qrow turned to look over his shoulder as the darkness behind him began to grow more absolute. Whatever was happening, whatever the thing forming was, it drank the light of the lantern, and blossomed, red swirling patterns of hazy energy rippling out of it, expanding the hole in the world.

Ruby gave a should and stumbled backwards, tripping over her cloak and landing hard on the grass. When she looked back up, the thing, the gaping wound in the air itself had gone. And in its place stood a woman.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the shock, Ruby couldn't help noticing first that the woman was dressed for battle. She wore dark red armguards, segmented to allow for more flexible movement, as well as long black boots that went all the way up her calves. Black shin guards were strapped over those, rising to cover her knees, but leaving bare the skin between where the guards ended and her skirt began. She left her torso largely unarmored, Ruby noticed, wearing a close-fitting top in black and red rather than anything more defensive.

Then there was her mask. It was more like a helmet really, covering her whole head. Black feathers trailed off the back tangling in an oddly familiar mess of black hair. The mask itself was bone white with red accents, and had four slits for eyes, though she could only make out a hint of red in two of them.

The woman took in her surroundings carefully, the masked face sweeping first over the hilltop, then Qrow, and finally settling on Ruby. The woman's hand was resting on the hilt of a sword, protruding from a rectangular sheath with a rotating chamber built into it about three-quarters of the way up its length. Each chamber had a different color visible within it, Dust if Ruby had to guess, but the chambers looked low from what Ruby could see.

The woman's gaze felt like a physical weight on Ruby, who scrambled awkwardly to her feet, making a show of dusting herself off until the stranger addressed Qrow. "You didn't tell me she would be here."

"Nice to see you, too," he said with a hint of dry amusement in his voice.

"What does she know?" The woman's voice was sharp and aggressive.

"She knows enough. I needed some help on the job, and I was a little strapped for resources."

"So you decided to recruit a child? Ozpin would be proud." She made the statement sound accusatory. "And Summer's child no less. Well done you."

The mention of her mother brought back a memory to Ruby. A Spring afternoon, a week after Summer's funeral. She and Yang had been going through some of their mother's old stuff in the attic when they'd stumbled upon a picture. Four friends, posing around an old tree. Three of them they'd recognized: Summer was there, wrapped in a white cloak, blushing and doing her best to hide beneath her hood; Qrow lurked off to one side, a little in the background, looking somehow more gaunt and angular in his youth; their father, Taiyang was laughing in a sleeveless shirt, showing off for the fourth person in the picture, a dark-haired woman with red eyes who was smirking at his antics.

Ruby felt an odd lurching sensation in her stomach. She knew who the woman was.

"You're Yang's mom, aren't you?" Ruby said, shaking from more than just the wind chill. "You're Raven."

The woman returned her attention to Ruby and Qrow crossed his arms with a wry grin. "What can I say sis? She's sharp."

Raven said nothing, but the hand resting on her sword reached up to pull off the mask. The resemblance to her daughter was immediately striking. She had the same strong, feminine features and she'd seen Yang's eyes take on the precise same shade of red as Raven's when she was upset. Instead of her sister's familiar, easy smile however, Raven's face was hard, her expression stern.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the job," Qrow said, breaking the silence.

"The job you need a child to do?"

Qrow bristled, but he didn't rise to the bait. "I needed Ruby because I wanted to offer you something worth your time." Qrow tugged Ruby's schematic out of his belt where he'd had it tucked and held it out to her.

Raven hesitated, then tore her eyes from Ruby and snatched the paper from his hand. She glanced over it, eyes tracing Ruby's work. "A picture of a scythe? That's cute," she said without a trace of amusement.

"That's a down payment," Qrow said. "I'll deliver you the parts to make it after the job."

Raven looked up from the paper. "You've told me precious little about this job, brother. I'm beginning to think that there's a catch I'm not going to like."

Ruby could practically hear the gears turning in Qrow's head as he squared off with his twin sister. "I need you to help me get someone out of the Schnee family estate," he said after a pause.

For the first time, a smile touched Raven's lips, though it didn't quite make it to her eyes. "The Schnee estate? So not only do you want me to willing put myself right under the nose of General Ironwood and his soldiers, but you also want me to do a job that involves breaking into the house of one of the richest, most powerful men in Remnant? What kind of fool do you take me for?"

Qrow's frown deepened. "The kind who works for hire."

"And this is the payment you offer?" Raven held up the paper before tearing it once down the middle, then quartering it. She tossed the pieces in the air and let the wind carry them away. "I don't think so."

She turned and began to walk off, towards the crest of the hill. Qrow clenched his fist but called after her, "Stop. You and I both know you have a price you're willing to pull this job off for." Raven stopped, the wind whipping her long hair dramatically. "What do you want?" Qrow asked.

Raven turned, her small smile triumphant now. "I have plenty of weapons Qrow. What we're low on is Dust. It strikes me that Jaques might have a private stash somewhere in that eyesore of a house you want to break into so bad."

Qrow tensed up. "No. That's too much."

Raven shrugged. "Fine, no skin off my neck. Good luck finding somebody else who can help you." She smirked over her shoulder at Qrow before continuing to walk away, that strange mask tucked under her free arm.

Panic seized Ruby. That couldn't be it. She couldn't let Raven leave, not if she was the only person who could help. She shoved past Qrow, calling after her. "Wait!" she cried out. "Wait, please you can't leave!"

Raven stopped and turned slowly on the spot, all traces of amusement gone. When she didn't say anything, Ruby barreled on. "Please, my friend is in trouble. Not just my friend, she's Yang's too! She's important to us, she's our family! Please, you have to help us."

Raven's face remained impassive but for a muscle working in her jaw. "You're not my family. You may call my brother your uncle, but don't presume I owe you anything for that. As for your friend," Raven shrugged, "Sometimes people get hurt," she said, her voice cold as steel. "That's the way the world works. The strong survive, and the weak die. You see it every single day. The sooner you accept that, the better."

Her words were like a slap in the face. All she'd ever known about Raven from what little her dad spoke of her was that she was strong-willed, but troubled. This woman, heartless and cruel before her...what could he have ever seen in her?

"That's not true." Ruby heard herself saying. She couldn't hold Raven's gaze any longer, her eyes dropping to the grass instead. "I've...I've seen s-strong people get hurt, and d-die." The images from the attack on Beacon flashed before her. She screwed her eyes shut willing back tears.

"Maybe they weren't as strong as you think."

Ruby's eyes flew open and she stared at the woman in front of her, standing with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips.

"Ruby," she heard Qrow behind her, warning her, but all Ruby could hear was a ringing in her ears.

"How can you say that?" Fury competed with fear now, beating it away as tears fell freely. Ruby clenched her fists so hard she could feel her nails biting into the flesh of her palms. "You didn't know them. Yang was one of those people, your own _daughter_! They hurt her and you think it's because she was _weak_!?" She stormed forward now, half a foot from Raven who stood her ground, her expression unchanged. "My friend Pyrrha was worth twice what you are! She _died_ to keep people safe, to protect them! Is that weakness?"

Raven leaned over, her face only a few inches from Ruby's. "If it were strength, she'd still be here."

Ruby punched her in the nose.

It was something that Yang had showed her a long time ago, before they'd gone to Beacon. Yang had said any self-respecting young woman should know enough self-defense to keep herself safe out in the real world. She wasn't a fighter by any means, but her sister was a good teacher, and there was plenty of power behind the blow.

Raven staggered back a step, looking more surprised than injured. For a moment, even the wind seemed to be silent. Then, in a flash, she lunged at Ruby, shoving her to the ground with unnatural strength. Ruby felt the wind go out of her as she hit the grass and slide back a few feet, but before she could regain her composure, she heard a ringing of metal on metal.

She looked up and saw Qrow standing over her, blade in hand, crossed with Raven's sword. It was long, and curved like a katana, but enormous, longer than could have realistically fit inside the sheath without some sort of telescoping effect. The blade was black but streaked with red, the same color as the most prominent chamber on the revolver.

The two were face to face, not moving, sizing the other one up. "Put. The sword. Away." Qrow's voice was deadly calm, his strength unwavering. Raven barred her teeth at him, and gave his sword a shove before backing off. She swung her weapon once in a wide arc before stowing it, impossibly, in the black sheath at her waist.

For a little while, none of them spoke. The howling of the wind and the distant rumble of thunder from the oncoming storm the only things to break the silence. Ruby still felt the anger pulsing through her veins, but the fear was creeping back in. Had she just ruined everything? What would happen to Weiss now? What had she been thinking? Raven looked at her one more time.

"You remind me of Summer," Raven finally said. "Fine. I take enough Dust for me and only me, and I'll do the job." She raised her gaze to meet Qrow's. "Deal?"

Every muscle in Qrow's body was tensed, and he still held his sword in one hand, but he nodded. "Deal."

"When's the job?"

"Four days. We're being picked up tonight."

"You're being picked up. I'll meet you at sunset the night of the job." Raven's gaze lingered on Ruby. She looked like she was going to say something, but she turned instead and stalked off, disappearing over the crest of the hill.

Qrow let out a long breath and shoved the blade of his sword into the ground before stooping to help Ruby to her feet.

"Uncle Qrow, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I-" Qrow lifted a hand to silence her.

"You don't have to apologize, kid. My sister can be a real piece of work. She needs someone to knock her down a peg or two every once in a while. Besides, she's trained same as me. Only thing you bruised was her ego."

As he spoke, he pulled a device out of his back pocket. Ruby recognized it as the same gadget he'd used to talk to Winter back at Haven. It was pulsing with red light now, and he tossed it in the grass about half a dozen paces from where they were standing.

Ruby shifted in place. Now that her adrenaline was fading, the cold was creeping back in, and with it came questions. "Why didn't you tell me who we were meeting?"

Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't want you to get the wrong ideas in your head. I thought if you knew it was Raven, you might think she'd go easy on us, that she'd be willing to do us a favor maybe. I wanted you to see her as dangerous first, and Yang's mom second."

"You said she wouldn't hurt us."

"I said she probably wasn't dangerous to us. And to be fair, I didn't expect you to attack her," Qrow said with a grin. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Ruby didn't return his smile. Her hand still hurt from where she'd punched Raven, it had been a solid hit. She should have broken her nose. But Qrow said she'd been trained.

"You weren't the only one on your team to be picked as a Huntsman, were you?" She bit her lip, almost dreading the answer.

Qrow's smile faded, but he didn't try to lie to her. He nodded his head. "We all were. Me, my sister, your dad...and your mom. Oz said we were some of his most promising students."

Ruby didn't want to ask the next question, but she had to. She had to know. "They said Mom died in an accident, while she was away on business." She'd known so little about what her mom had done for a living, and she didn't care back then. Even after she died it hadn't seemed important. Now…

"Yeah, Qrow said, seemingly reading her thoughts. "A mission she was on went wrong. Very wrong." Tears stung at Ruby's eyes.

"Were you going to tell me?" She felt the same flash of anger she'd felt towards Raven, but worse somehow, the sting of betrayal leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yes," Qrow said. "After. I figured you had more than enough to deal with for the moment."

Ruby had nothing to say to that. Maybe it would have been better for her to learn later. To leave the pieces of the puzzle where they were instead of trying to fit them all together. But it was too late for that. The picture had resolved itself before her, for better or worse.

"Why did Raven say I reminded her of Mom?"

A sad smile tugged at the corner of Qrow's mouth. "Because she would have said the same thing. She did, in fact, many times. Your mom and Raven disagreed on a lot of things, and they were very competitive. Most of the time it meant they brought out the best in one another. Other times…" he trailed off, lost in a memory. Ruby let him. She didn't want to talk about her mother any more. She didn't want to talk about Raven anymore. She didn't want to be scared, or angry, or upset anymore. She drew her cloak around herself and stalked away, collapsing in the grass at the far side of the hill where Raven had disappeared. As she did in, she saw Qrow out of the corner of her eye, heading down the hill. To fetch their things she supposed.

Ruby laid in the grass and listened to the wind around her, the herald of the storm. A low crackle of thunder from somewhere off to the west meant that the rain wasn't far. They'd be wet in addition to cold soon enough.

 _You should have stayed home_ , a small voice in the back of her mind said. _You should have never left_.

 _I couldn't let Jaune, Ren and Nora go on without me._

 _So why not stay in Haven, where you were safe?_

 _Weiss needs me._

 _Do you really think you're strong enough to help her?_

That voice was Raven's, mocking her, voicing fears she'd had from the moment she'd convinced Qrow to let her come.

 _If it was strength, she'd still be here._

"No!" Ruby said to nobody in particular. She stood up and stared after Raven, though she had long gone. "You're wrong!" _Summer would have said the same thing._ A bubble of defiance rose in her chest at that.

"I don't care that I'm afraid," she cried out, after Raven, after the storm, at any gods who might be listening. "I don't care that I'm lost, or in pain, it doesn't matter! It's not about me!" As she said it, she realized how true it was. It had never been about her. Ruby understood what Pyrrha had done because she would have done it herself. It wasn't weakness, Raven was wrong. Ruby would do anything for her friends. That's what it meant to be strong, to love somebody. She thought of her sister, of Blake, of Jaune, and Ren, and Nora. She thought about Sun and Neptune, Scarlet and Sage. Arslan, Reese, all of her friends.

Weiss.

What wouldn't she do to keep them safe?

She had to be strong, because it wasn't about her. It wasn't about keeping bad things from happening ever. It was being there to keep those you loved safe, and to help them when the bad things did happen.

Ruby felt the wind against her, her red cloak billowing as she stood on the hill. The wind rushing past almost seemed to cling to her, to catch in her hair and around her clothes, coalescing across her body, but instead of the autumn chill, she felt a surge of warmth and strength. Purpose.

She closed her eyes.

And when she opened them again, the world felt new. She felt almost impossibly light on her feet, the darkness seemed a little less dark, her ears picking out sounds that had before been drowned out by the wind. She could _feel_ the presence of the storm, the oncoming force of raw nature in the air. She felt the presence of her Uncle as he crested the hill. Felt him approach her. Sensed his hand before it rested on his shoulder.

"I still don't think I know who I am," Ruby said without looking at him, still staring at the dark expanse of forest below. "But I know who I'm not. And I know who I want to be." She looked up into her uncle's eyes. "Is that enough?"

He nodded. "I think it just might be."

Another clap of thunder rolled over the hill, and from a long ways away, Ruby saw a large black bird rise from the trees and take off into the night.

* * *

A/N: One of the many fun things about writing this story in this time line is getting to explore how the main characters all take different paths towards unlocking their Aura. Blake did it first, obviously, and was mostly motivated by fear, fueled in no small part by Adam. Yang's was defiance and sheer stubborn willpower. Now we have Weiss, who uses not the way she views herself, but the image Ruby makes her see, a reflection of herself if you will. And then Ruby, who decides to focus on her aspirations, and who she will one day be. I think all of these are valuable parts of their characters and all valuable paths towards self discovery, even Blake's, though her fear is more of an obstacle to conquer than the other's methods of self discovery.

Oh, right, the elephant in the room. I'm writing again! Sorry for keeping everybody waiting so long for this chapter. There were a lot of reasons I walked away from writing, but I prefer to focus instead on moving forward rather than wallowing in the past. The point is, I'm back now and deeply enjoyed putting this chapter on paper.

To those of you who might have read this story ages ago, I do encourage a re-read if you're bored. All seven previous chapters have been edited and rewritten in some way for the better, though admittedly none of the plot points are really that different. If you're finding this piece for the first time, then thanks for reading! Not sure when the next chapter will be up. It's going to be a big one and I don't want to set a deadline I can't meet, but I'm aiming for 3ish weeks.

That's all I got. If you've got feedback, please let me know, I love improving my writing and hearing what my readers think. Cheers.


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